The Ichthyologist
Encyclopedia
The Ichthyologist is the second studio album by post-metal
band Giant Squid
.
It was released on February 3, 2009, independently by the band, limited to 1,000 copies in special packaging.
The first 50 pre-orders also include a real Broadnose sevengill shark
tooth collected by singer Aaron Gregory from the Aquarium of the Bay
at San Francisco, California.
Fans started receiving pre-orders in late January 2009.
The album is a concept album
about a man stripped of humanity and left with nothing but the sea in front of him. He adapts inhuman ways to survive the shock of human loss and total emotional tragedy, becoming something else entirely in the process.
The album was re-released on Translation Loss Records featuring four completely re-mixed songs as well as new artwork by Sam Kieth
.
Post-metal
Post-metal is a music genre, a mixture between the genres of post-rock and heavy metal.Hydra Head Records owner and Isis frontman Aaron Turner originally termed the genre "thinking man's metal", demonstrating that his band was trying to move away from common metal conventions...
band Giant Squid
Giant Squid (band)
Giant Squid is a post-metal band from San Francisco, California, currently signed to Translation Loss and Vega Vinyl. They were previously signed to The End Records.-Early years :...
.
It was released on February 3, 2009, independently by the band, limited to 1,000 copies in special packaging.
The first 50 pre-orders also include a real Broadnose sevengill shark
Broadnose sevengill shark
The broadnose sevengill shark is the only extant member of the genus Notorynchus, in the family Hexanchidae. It is recognizable because of its seven gill slits, while most shark species have five gill slits, with the exception of the members of the order Hexanchiformes and the sixgill sawshark.The...
tooth collected by singer Aaron Gregory from the Aquarium of the Bay
Aquarium of the Bay
Aquarium of the Bay is a public aquarium located at Embarcadero and Beach Street, at the edge of Pier 39 in San Francisco, California. The Aquarium is focused on local aquatic animals from the San Francisco Bay and neighboring waters....
at San Francisco, California.
Fans started receiving pre-orders in late January 2009.
The album is a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
about a man stripped of humanity and left with nothing but the sea in front of him. He adapts inhuman ways to survive the shock of human loss and total emotional tragedy, becoming something else entirely in the process.
The album was re-released on Translation Loss Records featuring four completely re-mixed songs as well as new artwork by Sam Kieth
Sam Kieth
Sam Kieth is a New York Times best-selling American comic book writer and illustrator, best known as the creator of The Maxx and Zero Girl.-Comics career:...
.
Track listing
- Panthalassa (Lampetra tridentata) – 5:50
- La Brea Tar Pits (Pseudomonas putidaPseudomonas putidaPseudomonas putida is a gram-negative rod-shaped saprotrophic soil bacterium. Based on 16S rRNA analysis, P. putida has been placed in the P. putida group, to which it lends its name....
) – 7:28 - Sutterville (Vibrio choleraeVibrio choleraeVibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative, comma-shaped bacterium. Some strains of V. cholerae cause the disease cholera. V. cholerae is facultatively anaerobic and has a flagella at one cell pole. V...
) – 4:08 - Dead Man Slough (Pacifastacus leniusculus) – 5:33
- Throwing a Donner Party at Sea (Physeter catodon) ft. Karyn Crisis – 5:40
- Sevengill (Notorynchus cepedianus) ft. Anneke van GiersbergenAnneke van GiersbergenAnneke van Giersbergen is the former lead singer of the Dutch progressive/alternative rock band The Gathering which she departed in August 2007. Since then, she has been involved in a solo project called Agua de Annique which also included her husband & drummer of the band, Rob Snijders...
, Lorraine Rath – 7:10 - Mormon Island (Alluvial AuAlluviumAlluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, eroded, deposited, and reshaped by water in some form in a non-marine setting. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand and gravel...
) ft. Kris Force – 6:39 - Blue Linckia (Linckia laevigataLinckia laevigataLinckia laevigata is a species of sea star in the shallow waters of tropical Indo-Pacific. The most common color morph found is pure, dark or light blue, although one can find the aqua, purple or orange variation throughout the ocean...
) – 7:13 - Emerald Bay (Prionace glauca) ft. Cat Gratz – 6:11
- Rubicon Wall (Acipenser transmontanus) – 7:59