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ISIS - OCEANIC original pressing - Help identifying Release


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Hi,

Just discovered that I have the original European pressing of the album ISIS - OCEANIC. It was bought 2nd hand in 2010 so I thought I had a repress and I just checked on Discogs and it appears its an original pressing. However, I cannot identify which version I have. Both records are black but both have light brown marble.

The matrix on all records is 

  • Matrix / Runout (Side A run out, etched): TRUST NO 18 A BA-CR Audiodisc 020824.

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According to some research these were the original released version.

  5 A/B black C/D black
Second Test press
·  5 A/B black
First press: (sold out)
·  6 A/B black C/D black w/ massive brown marble
·  27 A/B purple C/D brown / purple marble
·  82 A/B purple C/D rust red
·  125 A/B purple C/D brown
·  708 A/B black C/D black
Second press: (sold out)
500 A/B clear C/D clear

I will appreciate if any ISIS collectors can help me.

 

Thanks

Nikos

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I'd be willing to bet this is just the black variant which they pressed immediately after the brown/x variant and what you're seeing is leftover residue from the previous variant.

 

If your etchings/serials match up with whatever is listed on Discogs I'd say that's the only logical conclusion.

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I have a copy of the Trust No One pressing on on purple a/b brown c/d with some marbling in both lps. I've always wondered how dramatic the marbling is in the version limited to 27, or if there was some marbling in the version limited to 125. Not that it makes a huge difference sitting on my shelf where I intend for it to stay...

 

The descriptions on Discogs are the same for both listings "Colour at this copy is exactly 'purple with a little blue marble C/D brown with black/purple marble'", so no help there. If anyone has any other info, I'd be interested to hear it. Otherwise, I'll just wonder which version I have very occasionally.

 

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A lot of Hydra Heads early stuff is like this including TNR and Tortuga presses. There are a good few Old Man Gloom albums that have variants of very few, and I got a first press of Christmas that isn't listed on any of the variants. There's also a first press of Botch - We Are the Romans that someone bought, messaged Aaron Turner about and he told him it was a once off /1, then a friend of mine found one the exact same, messaged Aaron and Aaron told him there were maybe 4 of them made. I since found one the same and bought it for myself, there's another one for sale on discogs claiming to be that variant and there are 7 or 8 people on there claiming to have it in their collection

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21 hours ago, seku said:

I'd say that TNO pressings and listing kind of transition colours as separate variants is made on purpose, so all the Isis completists realize how wrong they are trying to get them all.. same applies to Panopticon pressings. I know what I'm saying, I have been in that boat for many years now :D

Listen to this man. He has the most complete Isis collection you'll find and been at it a long time.

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  • 2 years later...
On 5/30/2019 at 3:17 AM, seku said:

I'd say that TNO pressings and listing kind of transition colours as separate variants is made on purpose, so all the Isis completists realize how wrong they are trying to get them all.. same applies to Panopticon pressings. I know what I'm saying, I have been in that boat for many years now :D

hey man, Don speaks highly of your Isis collection.  I prefer the original Oceanic mix, before the remaster.  Is there a specific copy you would suggest picking up that sounds the best?  I have a couple old ones, like the Level Playing Field clear/green splatter, and some OG black (donno what press run).  But i'm definitely after a clean, original master and have no problems paying for it. 

Any thoughts?

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I find the TNO master to be the most unique and it might be my personal favorite. Its has a grunginess and midrange profile that is just more alluring than the other masters I have. I've never had a  2014 master but I probably have one copy from almost every other different mastering job of that album.

 

The 2005 Escape Artist master is really nice as well. Its a pretty basic single pocket thin pressing which is fine with me and I like the sound of it. It looks like its just a repress of the original 2002 master from Escape Artist.

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On 7/30/2021 at 1:03 PM, mcpherson123 said:

I find the TNO master to be the most unique and it might be my personal favorite. Its has a grunginess and midrange profile that is just more alluring than the other masters I have. I've never had a  2014 master but I probably have one copy from almost every other different mastering job of that album.

 

The 2005 Escape Artist master is really nice as well. Its a pretty basic single pocket thin pressing which is fine with me and I like the sound of it. It looks like its just a repress of the original 2002 master from Escape Artist.

Right on, that's why I like the original mix/master.  The 2014 remaster took everything and separated them and cleaned them up way, way too much.  Sure, it's much more dimensional and spacious but it lost the dense, living, organic feeling that made this album so great. 

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I can confim that TNO pressing sounds absolutely amazing. I have the 2nd pressing clear variant, got it at used records store here in Finland for a good price. It really has all the brutality and soul that was missing in the remaster.

 

Edit: I would say that the TNO pressing pulls you in and you don't want to stop listening. While the 2014 remaster feels like background elevator music.

 

I also had the Shades Of The Swarm box (sold it...). Did not quite like Oceanic in that box. Felt a bit compressed and almost like it was sourced from digital files. But I'm no expert, some other might feel that it sounds perfect.

Edited by Portsi
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10 hours ago, Portsi said:

I can confim that TNO pressing sounds absolutely amazing. I have the 2nd pressing clear variant, got it at used records store here in Finland for a good price. It really has all the brutality and soul that was missing in the remaster.

 

Edit: I would say that the TNO pressing pulls you in and you don't want to stop listening. While the 2014 remaster feels like background elevator music.

 

I also had the Shades Of The Swarm box (sold it...). Did not quite like Oceanic in that box. Felt a bit compressed and almost like it was sourced from digital files. But I'm no expert, some other might feel that it sounds perfect.

Well this sounds great, thanks for the information.  I'll have to spin my 2 original copies on my new table, i haven't yet.  I have a 3rd press black 2005 black and a 2007 clear with green splatter.  I don't remember what i prefer.  

Would you say that i'm likely to be safe if i go for a 3rd press via TNO?  When I recoup some of my recent expenses I'll be submitting offers; lotta dudes in Greece asking silly money.  But I'm willing to pay $100 for sure. 

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  • 7 months later...

Did anyone order the repress from Zia Records? Back in late September, they put the Clear w/Black & Gold splatter up on their website for sale. I reached out a month ago and they said that they took the pre-orders they received to place an order for the product with the distributor. I know that this variant was limited, so what they said didn't really make sense. Not sure why they would put up a product for pre-order without knowing if they will receive any stock. I would assume that most businesses have an idea how much inventory they will get, and put that amount up for pre-order. Just trying to determine if I should cancel my order because it will never be fulfilled.

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33 minutes ago, Billich0986 said:

Did anyone order the repress from Zia Records? Back in late September, they put the Clear w/Black & Gold splatter up on their website for sale. I reached out a month ago and they said that they took the pre-orders they received to place an order for the product with the distributor. I know that this variant was limited, so what they said didn't really make sense. Not sure why they would put up a product for pre-order without knowing if they will receive any stock. I would assume that most businesses have an idea how much inventory they will get, and put that amount up for pre-order. Just trying to determine if I should cancel my order because it will never be fulfilled.

Zia won't charge you until the product ships.  If you're even remotely interested in having that order fulfilled, there's no harm in keeping it open – even if it seems improbable that they'll ever ship it.

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Finally got my clear/gold cleaned and it's still noisy as shit and scratched to hell, AND it has a chunk missing from the edge lol.  This is hilariously bad.  I can cut my sandwiches with how sharp the edges are to this, and I could dig a hole with the area missing the chunk! 

The remaster does suit some songs, but I picked up a couple copies of the lauded Trust No One pressing from Sweden, and yeah... that's the fucking sound right there.  That's Oceanic. 

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22 hours ago, Derek™ said:

Zia won't charge you until the product ships.  If you're even remotely interested in having that order fulfilled, there's no harm in keeping it open – even if it seems improbable that they'll ever ship it.

Good point. I did go check my credit card statement and there isn't any charge. Which is weird that they offered to refund me... I'll let the order hang open, but probably call it a day when it hits the one year mark. 

 

3 hours ago, Gumbo72203 said:

Finally got my clear/gold cleaned and it's still noisy as shit and scratched to hell, AND it has a chunk missing from the edge lol.  This is hilariously bad.  I can cut my sandwiches with how sharp the edges are to this, and I could dig a hole with the area missing the chunk! 

The remaster does suit some songs, but I picked up a couple copies of the lauded Trust No One pressing from Sweden, and yeah... that's the fucking sound right there.  That's Oceanic. 

That's disappointing to hear. Did they all turn out that way? Have you heard any other reports of significant surface noise? I, too, also picked up one of the OG T&N pressings (White from the 3rd press), but wanted the remaster to have both in my collection. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/17/2022 at 11:00 AM, Billich0986 said:

That's disappointing to hear. Did they all turn out that way? Have you heard any other reports of significant surface noise? I, too, also picked up one of the OG T&N pressings (White from the 3rd press), but wanted the remaster to have both in my collection. 

yeah the reviews aren't good on Discogs lol. 

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13 minutes ago, Derek™ said:

If there's one aspect of this hobby that has become increasingly apparent to me as the years have gone on, it's that Discogs reviews are dog shit.

i don't share this experience, I've had a few reviews help me to outstanding copies of certain albums.  For instance, the Discogs reviews helped me track down the RTI pressing of Slowdive - S/T and man, that thing sounds gooooooood.  the naysayers will always be louder than the supporters though, so i try to make a point to make a comment when a pressing is good. 

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