Celestial represents the moment Isis fully stepped into their identity, bridging the raw heaviness of their early EPs with the expansive atmosphere they would later refine. The album is dense, towering, and architecturally precise, built around grinding riffs, seismic rhythms, and a thematic focus on structure, collapse, and transformation. It is a record that feels massive in scale, both physically and emotionally, as if every sound is part of a vast machine slowly waking, rumbling, and breaking apart.
The opening track SGNL 01 begins with slow-building ambience, setting a mood of mechanical tension that leads directly into Celestial (The Tower), one of the most iconic pieces in Isis’s catalog. The track establishes the album’s signature blend of colossal guitar walls, pummeling percussion, and hypnotic repetition. The rhythm section pushes forward with unwavering force, while guitars shift between crushing distortion and stark, melodic fragments that pierce through the density.
Glisten continues this momentum through tightly wound riffs and suffocating heaviness, embodying the industrial, oppressive tone of the record. It feels like a slow march through a collapsing structure, with each section adding layers of noise and pressure. C.F.T. (New Circuitry and Continued Evolution) breaks the flow with a more chaotic, spiraling progression, introducing sharper edges and an atmosphere of unraveling. Its shifting dynamics and coarse textures represent the album’s theme of circuitry decaying into raw, uncontrolled energy.
Later in the album, Devoid takes a more stripped-down approach, relying on open space and restrained movement to generate tension. The pacing slows, the guitars stretch out, and the contrast highlights how Isis can make silence feel just as heavy as distortion. Collapse and Crush brings the intensity back with pounding rhythms and grinding riff patterns that feel both relentless and meticulously crafted. The careful layering of guitars and electronics adds a sense of vast, towering scale, reinforcing the album’s architectural aesthetic.
Gentle Time closes the main body of the record with a powerful combination of crushing repetition and subtle melodic shifts. The track builds patiently, drawing the listener into a trance-like state before erupting into a final wave of force. Its slow dissolution mirrors the overarching narrative suggested throughout Celestial, evoking images of structures collapsing into dust. SGNL 02 completes the album with ambient drift and electronic texture, serving as a reflective echo of the opening, bookending the experience with a sense of quiet aftermath.
Across Celestial, Isis demonstrates absolute command of weight, repetition, and atmosphere. The album feels engineered with purpose: every riff, every space, every transition contributes to a consistent, immersive world. The themes of architecture and deconstruction are expressed not through lyrics but through the sound itself, with towering riffs representing structures and ambient passages suggesting the empty spaces between them.
Celestial remains a pivotal achievement in heavy music, marking the moment Isis transformed from a powerful sludge outfit into one of the most innovative voices in atmospheric metal. It is monumental, disciplined, and emotionally resonant, offering a sense of scale and depth unmatched by most records of its era. For anyone tracing the evolution of post-metal, Celestial is an essential cornerstone.
