The Red Sea (EP)
1999 extended play
The Red Sea is the third extended play by American post-metal band Isis. An expansion of the sound pioneered on their previous release Mosquito Control, this EP offers a slight evolution toward the direction Isis would begin to take with their debut album, Celestial. The three songs which make up the original EP (tracks 1–3) are tied together with spoken word samples from the short-lived television series Hotel Room (specifically, the third episode, entitled "Blackout"). The song "Ochre" contains a sample from the film Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch, and is a reading of a portion of William Blake's poem "Auguries of Innocence".
The album was first released on CD and 8" vinyl. The CD (and later 12") versions of The Red Sea contain the four songs that made up Isis' 1998 cassette demo (as bonus tracks); electronics are by former member Chris Mereschuk on those songs.
This is the first release with Jay Randall (Agoraphobic Nosebleed) on electronics and backing vocals (he also appeared on Isis' cover of "Streetcleaner", originally by Godflesh). Jay would leave the band after its release, and was replaced by Bryant Clifford Meyer, who stayed with Isis until their dissolution in 2010. The Red Sea was also the first release to feature Michael Gallagher, who would also stay with Isis until their end.
The Red Sea also introduces water as a key theme in Isis' albums that would be expanded upon later with (Oceanic).
“The Red Sea (EP)” enters the record as 1999 extended play. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what extended and play can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7759930. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1998 and 2010.
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