| CD REVIEW Isis |
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Band : Isis A band like Isis no longer needs an introduction. These Amercians know how to make epic postmetal - throughout the years they surprised countless fans with records such as Oceanic, PanopticonandIn The Absence Of Truth. At this very moment, their latest opus is sliding into my cd player : Wavering Radiant, that is a really pleasant album. Isis’ sound is really great, a true post metal sound with that usual dark/light transition found everywhere. Their approach is all about the tension and release built by using Aaron’s aggressive/nasale though rather melodic vocals together with wavering guitar licks and an excellent rhythm section. A special mention of course goes to the subtle use of synths, never becoming over-powering or ridiculously cheesy. The album contains only one song, the title track, running less than two minutes. The other songs are always between seven and eleven minutes long and contain lots of different passages. “Threshold of transformation”, “Hall of the dead” and ”Stone to wake a serpent” show an ambience and vulnerability with a sense of brooding metallic anger, paving the way for the desperate cries and continued echoing riffs, while “Ghost key” and “20 minutes/40 years” have a dark and depressing feel to it. This is a total Isis album, and any fan of their old or their new sonicscapes will find much here to love. They have been working to combine their apocalyptical Neurosis sound with their newer, more accessible mystical Mogwai-ish direction, and this album is their best effort yet. It does not quite touch the mastery of Panopticon — really, nothing may ever do that — but this is an excellent album all the same. 95/100 Peter Brems. |