Isis was an American post-metal band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1997 by guitarist and vocalist Aaron Turner, bassist Jeff Caxide, vocalist and electronic instrumentalist Chris Mereschuk and drummer Aaron Harris. After a demo and the EP Mosquito Control were recorded by the original lineup, Mereschuk was replaced by Jay Randall in 1999, who joined the group alongside guitarist Michael Gallagher. Jay Randall would later be replaced by guitarist and keyboardist Bryant Clifford Meyer after the recording of Red Sea. With roots in hardcore punk and doom metal, the band borrowed from and helped to evolve the post-metal sound pioneered by bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh, characterized by lengthy songs focusing on repetition and evolution of structure. Isis disbanded in June 2010, just before the release of a split EP with the Melvins, reforming only once in 2018 as Celestial for a one-off show to pay tribute to Caleb Scofield.
Kayo Dot is an American avant-garde metal band. Formed in 2003 by Toby Driver after the break-up of Maudlin of the Well, they released their debut album Choirs of the Eye on John Zorn's Tzadik Records that same year. Since then, Kayo Dot's lineup has drastically changed over the years. Toby Driver is the only founding member of the band still remaining, save for frequent lyrical contributions from former motW member Jason Byron. Up until 2011, the lineup was constantly shifting, and Kayo Dot's sound consistently changed over the years, featuring a wide variety of instrumentation including guitar, drums, bass, violin, saxophone, vibraphone, synthesizers, clarinets and flutes. Underground metal audiences warmly received the group upon its early existence, with the 2003 album Choirs of the Eye and the 2006 album Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue both becoming underground hits in the progressive metal scene.
Botch was an American mathcore band formed in 1993 in Tacoma, Washington. The band, featuring Brian Cook, Dave Knudson, Tim Latona and Dave Verellen, spent four years as a garage band and released several demos and EPs before signing to Hydra Head Records. Through the label, Botch released two studio albums: American Nervoso (1998) and We Are the Romans (1999). The group toured extensively and internationally in support of their albums with like-minded bands such as The Blood Brothers, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ink & Dagger and Jesuit. Botch struggled to write a third studio album, and in 2002 the group broke up due to tensions among the band members and creative differences. Hydra Head posthumously released an EP of songs the group had been working on before they split titled An Anthology of Dead Ends and a live album documenting their final show titled 061502 in 2006.
Hydra Head Records was an independent record label specializing in extreme metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner in 1993. It had another imprint, Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specialized in experimental and noise music. Turner announced he was winding the label down in 2012. In 2020, the label removed its catalog from Spotify and returned its album rights back to several artists.
Robotic Empire is an American independent record label based out of Richmond, Virginia, specializing in hardcore punk, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Some of the most popular bands signed to the label over the years have been pg.99, City of Caterpillar, Crowpath, The Red Chord, Circle Takes the Square, Cursive, Versoma, Daughters, Isis, Kayo Dot, Cave In, Red Sparowes, Torche and Hot Cross. Robotic Empire was known as Robodog Records for their first 14 releases.
Knut were a Swiss mathcore/sludge metal band from Geneva, formed in 1994.
Aaron Turner is an American musician, singer, graphic artist, and founder of label Hydra Head Records. He is most widely known for his role as guitarist and vocalist for the post-metal bands SUMAC and Isis, while also participating in several other bands and projects such as Old Man Gloom, Lotus Eaters and Split Cranium, a collaboration with Jussi Lehtisalo of Finnish band Circle who toured with Isis in 2009.
The Unifying Themes of Sex, Death and Religion is a compilation album by the American rock band Botch. Originally released through Excursion Records in 1997, the album compiled Botch's first two EPs—The John Birch Conspiracy Theory and Faction—with the song "Closure" which was previously released on the various artists compilation I Can't Live Without It.
Torche was an American rock band from Miami, Florida. The group formed in 2004 and has released five full-length studio albums, four EPs, two split albums, and three singles. They released their fifth and final full-length studio album, Admission, in 2019.
Isis was an American post-metal band, active from 1997 until their disbandment in 2010. They released five full-length albums, five extended plays (EPs), seven live albums, two singles, and have collaborated with other artists on numerous other projects.
Wavering Radiant is the fifth and final full-length album by American post-metal group Isis, released by Ipecac Recordings in 2009 and produced by Joe Barresi. The band split just over a year after its release. The album continues Isis' history of lengthy songwriting, yet presents a slight departure from the soft-loud dynamics and post-metal aesthetic which characterized previous releases.
Songs for Singles is an EP by the American rock band Torche. The album was released on September 21, 2010, through Hydra Head Records. It is the first Torche album, and second release after the split single Chapter Ahead Being Fake, to not feature guitarist Juan Montoya.
The discography of Cave In, an American rock band, consists of seven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, seven EPs, three singles, three splits, eight compilation contributions and three music videos. Cave In formed in 1995 in Methuen, Massachusetts, where thereafter they began releasing several split singles and demos that eventually culminated in the 1998 compilation album Beyond Hypothermia. Cave In's first studio album, Until Your Heart Stops, was released later in 1998 through Hydra Head Records. These early releases from the band are often considered important albums in developing the metalcore genre. The band gradually began to move away from heavy metal and took a more alternative rock and progressive rock approach to their music beginning in 1999 with the EP Creative Eclipses. This new direction continued with Jupiter, Cave In's second studio album in 2000. Cave In released one more EP through Hydra Head Records in 2002, Tides of Tomorrow, before signing with RCA Records.
The Melvins and Isis released a split EP on Hydra Head Records in 2010, with each band contributing two tracks. Isis' "Way Through Woven Branches" had previously only been available as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their last full-length, Wavering Radiant, whilst "Pliable Foe" was exclusive to this release. Both tracks were recorded during the Wavering Radiant sessions. Meanwhile, the Melvins tracks are reworked from their release The Bride Screamed Murder, described as displaying the "dadaist/trickster tendencies of the band which has frustrated and delighted fans in equal measure since the beginning of their existence". The album was released July 13, 2010 on CD format, with vinyl copies available a week earlier from Vacation Vinyl in Los Angeles.
Heart Ache/Dethroned is a double EP release by the Welsh band Jesu. Released on 16 November 2010 through Hydra Head Records, it combines the band's out-of-print, debut 2004 EP Heart Ache with a previously unreleased EP titled Dethroned. Jesu founder, Justin Broadrick, began working on Dethroned around the same time as Heart Ache in 2004, but it was not completed until 2010. Broadrick said the release of Dethroned took so long because he didn't want it to be a stand-alone EP and was waiting for the right album with which to combine it. Broadrick chose a reissue of Heart Ache to pair with Dethroned because they were written around the same period and contained similarities to his previous band, Godflesh. He said, "Both Heart Ache and Dethroned, for me, contain a huge amount of Godflesh to some extent, it's that period when the ghost of Godflesh still somewhat influenced the Jesu sound and songwriting."
Greymachine is an experimental music project founded in 2006. It is led by Godflesh and Jesu frontman Justin Broadrick. The act also features Isis frontman and guitarist Aaron Turner, Jesu bassist Diarmuid Dalton and Head of David bassist Dave Cochrane.
Disconnected is the debut album by experimental music act Greymachine, featuring Justin Broadrick, Aaron Turner, Dave Cochrane and Diarmuid Dalton. Produced by Broadrick, it was released on 4 August 2009 via Turner's own record label, Hydra Head Records. In February 2018, Disconnected was reissued as a limited 2xLP with unique artwork and clear vinyl.
"Vultures Descend" is a song by experimental music project Greymachine, from the act's debut album, Disconnected. Produced by the band leader Justin Broadrick, it was released on 12 May 2009 as a single via bandmember Aaron Turner's own record label, Hydra Head Records.
Worship Is the Cleansing of the Imagination is a split album between experimental musicians Dominick Fernow under the pseudonym Prurient and Justin Broadrick under the pseudonym JK Flesh. Released on vinyl on December 11, 2012, Worship Is the Cleansing of the Imagination was the final release of new material by Hydra Head Records, the label founded by former Isis member Aaron Turner, during its existence as a full-time label.
