Photo by Andrew Parks
ISIS surprised their fans with a sudden press release last night, declaring next month’s Melvins tour their last. The statement is rather lengthy, so here’s the basic breakdown:
In the interest of preserving the love we have of this band, for each other, for the music made and for all the people who have continually supported us, it is time to bring it to a close. We’ve seen too many bands push past the point of a dignified death and we all promised one another early on in the life of the band that we would do our best to ensure ISIS would never fall victim to that syndrome. We’ve had a much longer run than we ever expected we would and accomplished a great deal more than we ever imagined possible…In more immediate and practical terms the tour we are about to embark upon is indeed our last. We are hoping that these final live rituals can help us bring a close to the life of this band in a celebratory and reverent way, and also provide us with a chance to say goodbye to many of those that have supported us over the years. While there is a measure of sadness that comes with the passing of this band, we hope that the final days can be joyous ones during which any and all that wish to come and join us will do so.
The band then alluded to one last EP and more entries in their ongoing series of live recordings and DVDs. Not to mention side projects (Mammifer, MGR, Red Sparowes) that may or may not become fulltime gigs in the near future.
As for what ISIS’ label thinks about this, Mike Patton and Greg Werckman of Ipecac Records said, “It has been a complete honor to be a part of the ISIS team. ISIS is a major part of our label’s foundation. Those five talented guys are our friends and we look forward to see and hear what they each do in the future.”
Check out all of ISIS’ official videos, a special performance with Tim Hecker, and some official live clips from Paris after the jump…
