Sawblade (Isis EP)

The Sawblade EP (also called the Buzzsaw EP) is a handmade CD-R made by Isis for their tour with Neurosis and Candiria, limited to 200 copies (the first 40 with red blade inserts, the remaining 160 with black). It was sold at these shows at a limit of 15 per night, and the leftover copies were given to friends of the band as a year-end "thank you" gift.^[1] The vinyl run of this release was limited to 250 copies.^[2] As such, Aaron Turner doesn't consider this an 'official' Isis release, describing it as “more like a special artifact for us and the few converts we had at the time”.^[3]

Sawblade
EP by Isis
Released	1999
Recorded	1999
Genre	Sludge metal, doom metal
Length	30:20
Label	Tortuga (TR-008) Hydra Head Records (HH666-41.5)
Producer	Isis, Kurt Ballou
Isis chronology
The Red Sea (1999) Sawblade (1999) Celestial (2000)

"Emission of the Signal" and "House of Low Culture" were both constructed by Aaron Turner and Jeff Caxide at home.^[3] "Streetcleaner" and "Hand of Doom" are both covers of Godflesh and Black Sabbath, respectively. The former was recorded for Isis' 2000 split release with Pig Destroyer; both were recorded during the Red Sea sessions in 1999.^[4] The CD version of the release was a genuine sawblade with a CD physically attached to it, which several venues prohibited from sale. To the best of Turner's knowledge, “no one was ever injured by one of these”.^[3]

The Japanese double release of Mosquito Control/the Red Sea features both cover songs as bonuses; "Streetcleaner" appears at the end of disc 1 (Mosquito Control), and "Hand of Doom" appears at the end of disc 2 (the Red Sea/1998 Demo); both tracks were later selected for inclusion on posthumous b-side album Temporal.^[5]

Track listing

Tracks 1 and 4 written by Aaron Turner and Jeff Caxide.

1. "Emission of the Signal" – 4:53
2. "Streetcleaner" – 5:42 (Broadrick)
3. "Hand of Doom" – 8:36 (Iommi/Osbourne/Ward/Butler)
4. "House of Low Culture" – 11:09

Personnel

Band members

• Jeff Caxide – bass
• Aaron Harris – drums
• Michael Gallagher – guitar
• Aaron Turner – vocals, guitar, design
• Jay Randall – electronics, vocals^[a]
• Bryant Clifford Meyer^[b]

Other personnel

• Kurt Ballou – audio recording and production
• Greg Moss – live sound

Notes

1. Jay Randall only contributed to one track: "Streetcleaner".
2. Bryant Clifford Meyer is credited as a member of Isis; however, the first material he recorded with the band was Celestial^[6] in January and February of 2000.^[7]

References

1. Conrad, Matt (June 21, 2007). "Isis - Sawblade EP Review". Sputnik Music. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
2. "Isis Sawblade 12". Tortuga Recordings. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
3. "PRIMER: Aaron Turner Revisits Isis' Entire Catalog". Self-Titled. Pop Mart Media. June 4, 2010. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
4. Turner, Aaron (May 6, 2008). "ISIS artifacts". FERAL PIG. Retrieved May 7, 2008.
5. "ISIS: 'Temporal' Cover Artwork, Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. August 29, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
6. "PRIMER: Aaron Turner Revisits Isis' Entire Catalog". Self-Titled. Pop Mart Media. June 4, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
7. Celestial Allmusic. Retrieved August 13, 2021