1. Hall Of The Dead 2. Ghost Key 3. Hand Of The Host 4. Wavering Radiant 5. Stone To Wake A Serpent 6. 20 Minutes / 40 Years 7. Threshold Of Transformation
Is the one word to describe Isis's lastest offering 2009's "Wavering Radiant", I mean it is simply incredible beyond words, I just love it. Isis are such an awesomely powerful and tight band, but they also have such a strong sense of melody and song structures. They seem to get better and more melodic with every album they put out, and "Wavering Radiant" is no exception whatsoever. This album is definately Isis's best and most dynamic release to date. It has a lot of everything. Some of it is more melodic, some of it is heavier and darker, and some is more atmospheric, and even trippy and psychedelic at times as well. With help from noted producer Joe Barresi (Tool, The Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age) who replaces Matt Bayles (who produced Isis's first four studio albums "Celestial", "Oceanic", "Panopticon", and "In the Absence of Truth"), the production on this album is simply at it's best here with no flaws whatsoever, it just never sounded better. This album also features a guest appearance from Tool guitarist Adam Jones who handles additional guitars on the first track "Hall of the Dead", and keyboards on track four "Wavering Radiant" as well. Everybody is in top form here. Aaron Turner's vocals are definately at their best here and there also more understandable as well, as he proudly leads the way throughout with his classic harsh and raspy yells and growls that he's best known for, but he also mixes it up with awesome clean, melodic singing passages. You can sure tell that Turner has spent more time in the studio with his voice this time around. He's got one of the most unique voices in metal, no questions asked. The guitars of Turner and Mike Gallagher are absolutely top notch throughout here, with big, heavy, and powerful riffs combined with soothing and addicting melodic instrumental passages that will drift your mind away to a different dimension. Electronics guru Clifford Meyer's multi-instrumentation duties play a much stronger role on this album, as he delivers fantastic atmospheric textures and uplifting keyboard effects that make the band sound almost reminiscent like Pink Floyd. Jeff Caxide's bass is just awesomely solid, deep, heavy, and hearable throughout, I really like the bass tone on here too, and of course skinsman Aaron Harris's drumming is simply splendid and tighter than ever before, and I do agree with Murat Batmaz (read his review btw) that the drums on here do have some great Tool influences. The beats are loud, heavy, and very trance-like, and there's also some tribal rhythms and some fierce double-bass parts as well.
The Songs.
Every song on "Wavering Radiant" is simply amazing. The first song "Hall of the Dead" is an incredibly dynamic and powerful opener, and it's also in my opinion one of the best songs in Isis's catalog. This song is just absolutely amazing, the vocals, guitars, bass, drums, it's all good. There's also great use of the organ and keyboards in the mid-section of the song as well, and I also dig Turner's clean vocals near the end. My favorite song on here, that being track two "Ghost Key" starts off with an addicting keyboard and clean guitar melody, and then goes into heavy, booming power chords and harsh growls, and then it quickly goes back to the keyboards and guitar melodies, and then back to the heavier riffs and growls. This song also features some great clean vocals around 3:36 which lead into more massive, crushing riffs and heart wrenching yells around 4:25, and there's an catchy melodic instrumental passage around 5:30 which leads into more great clean singing at 7:09, and there's more crashing power chords and raw powered yells at the end. Track three "Hand of the Host" is another awesome cut that features some hefty, marching drum beats, crushing, sludgy riffs, and more heartfelt growls around 1:30. This song also showcases Aaron's majestic and powerful melodic voice, and there's also some catchy melodic guitar parts that sound almost somewhat psychedelic especially around 4:47. The short instrumental "Wavering Radiant" is a small but psychedelic interval that leads into the following track "Stone to Wake a Serpent" which is another amazing and immense song, and "20 Minutes/40 Years" is another one of my favorites here that features a solid first section with some awesome ultra-heavy bass from Caxide at the beginning, and there's also more excellent and passionate melodic singing vocals from Turner as well as those torturing yet heart wrenching howls. The mid section of this song is very floaty and melodic, and there's also some heavily crushing sludge-esque riffage and double-bass parts near the end as well, and last but not least, "Threshold of Transformation" is a monster, and I DO mean to say a monster of an album closer with the first half being heavy, crushing, and balls-out, and the last half being an unbelievable dose of pure epic goodness that will give you goosebumps.
Favorite songs: Ghost Key, Hall of The Dead, Hand of the Host, Threshold of Transformation, and 20 Minutes/40 Years.
Overall, "Wavering Radiant" is an incredibly dynamic work of musical art, and it is without question one of the BEST metal albums of 2009 as well. This album is simply an addictive listen especially while wearing headphones with the volume turned up. If you're a fan of Isis like myself, then by all means, you gotta get this epic masterpiece, belive me, this album requires your immediate listening attention. Highly Recommended!!
What am I missing? Submitted on: 2009-08-24
This is a sellout album. I read the Amazon reviews and was hoping for the dark, surge metal sound and instead got a typical, sterile progressive metal album, completely predictable, unchallenging, soulless drivel. Neurosis, Pelican, even Old Man Gloom offer songs which build and progress and culminate; Wavering Radiant is boring pleasant music. As further proof of this, note that Amazon classifies this as "Rock".
boring and shallow Submitted on: 2009-08-09
I bought this CD based on my friend's recommendation, who said that ISIS was an up and coming progressive band. I am really disappointed though. Their style is too repetitive and shallow, and the songs are really boring.
Another excellent offering from Isis Submitted on: 2009-07-22
I would actually rate Wavering Radiant at 4.5 stars if I could. I have been an Isis fan since Panopticon and have since acquired all of their other albums for my collection. So of course the day that Radiant became available I ordered it up from Amazon and marked off the days on the calendar until it arrived.
Isis makes some of the heaviest and moodiest music I've ever heard. Making frequent use of odd time signatures, keeping the lyrics to a minimum, and adding layer upon layer as each tune evolves, an Isis album is more something that you experience rather than listen. I had the perfect scenario when the CD finally arrived: a long 2-hour drive at night on an empty highway. I set the cruise control, loaded the disc into the changer, and cranked the volume.
The first thing I noticed is that this album builds on the blueprint laid out by In The Absence Of Truth. The songs tend toward the longer side, averaging around 8-10 minutes each, which gives the band plenty of space to evolve their melodies and explore various shades of light and dark within each song. The performances by all of the band members here are fantastic, but I was especially impressed with the work of drummer Aaron Harris. His newfound appreciation for nuance and subtlety behind the kit wonderfully complements 'Ghost Key' but he still has the power to drive heavy riffers like 'Stone To Wake A Serpent.'
I've seen some people compare Isis to Tool (one of my favorite bands) but I'm not sure that is a fair comparison. They are two different animals that happen to walk on some of the same terrain some of the time. But Isis has a much more minimalistic approach lyrically and tends a bit more toward dense layered guitars to build the mood as opposed to the powerful rhythm section of Justin and Danny from Tool.
In closing, Wavering Radiant is a fantastic album - a must have for any Isis fan and a great starter album for someone looking to research the band since it is a bit more accessible than some of their earlier works like Celestial and Oceanic. I did like In The Absence Of Truth just a bit more than Wavering Radiant, but that's only because I think Isis created a near-perfect album with ITAOT and I appreciated Aaron Turner's tendency to sing more than growl on ITAOT. Thank you, Isis, for another incredible album with staying power in my CD player...
Over-rated Submitted on: 2009-07-06
Isis really are a one-trick band and to be honest I find them pretty dull. This album is a continuation of the ideas on Panopticon and In The Absence of Truth. If you enjoyed those albums definitely get this. If not, avoid it. I really can't understand why a stunning band like TOOL rate these guys so highly. I guess they get points for trying something a little different. But seeing them live back in Australia, playing a boring and soulless 90 minute set, only served to strengthen my belief that these guys are over-rated.
INCREDIBLE...
What am I missing?
Another excellent offering from Isis
Over-rated