Isis – Wavering Radiant

Monday, August 31st, 2009, posted by K.Panagiotis

Before i start talking about the last newborn ”child” of Isis, I have to admit that I am a huge fan of this band, so i ll try to do my best of  judging this album.

Isis are back, with the new album called Wavering Radiantand they are trying  (with success) to move their sound into another level , bigger level , more mature level. 2009 and Isis are appearing in the most critical stage of their career. ”Celestial”, ”Oceanic”, ”Panopticon” , ”In the Absence of Truth” and the success of the band is very high, exactly as the expectations are. Isis had to choose between  the  underground sound they had before.

In the Absence of Truth and the sound they made in ”In the Absence of Truth”. in the end i think that they pick the best. In Waving Radiant we can listen to a mixture of ”Oceanic”, ”Panopticon” with the more ”Tool” sound of ”In the Absence of Truth”. The album starts with ”Hail of Dead”  and Mr. Adam Jones [TOOL] appearing as a guest, that means great riffing from the beginning to the end of the song. ”Ghost keys” starts with a great combination of melodic sounds from guitar and bass, classic Isis trippy instrumentals until explosive bang of distortion and growling comes and then again some trippy sounds.

Isis recipe is well knowned and until know we like it. Wavering Radiant works as a single piece of music rather than a series of songs, so ”hand of the host” really comes natural in the flow of the album. wavering radiant is small instrumental like a bridge for ”Stone to wake a serpent” which is one of personal favourites and has great rythms. ”20 minutes/40 years” starts with a dark atmosphere and a heavy bass that lead to heavy guitars and growling vocals. There is a rotation of melodic trippy music with clean vocals to heavy guitars, growling and distortion,also mr Aaron Turner [Vocals] gives a great performance in the entire record. ”Threshold of Transformation ” the last track of ”Wavering Radiant” arguably one of Isis’ finest moments.

The producer  Joe Barresi [ Kyuss, The Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, Tomahawk] has made a great job. The conclusion is that Isis are here with a piece of art. Enjoy it!

Track List	Line Up
01. Hall of the Dead 02. Ghost Key 03. Hand of the Host 04. Wavering Radiant 05. Stone to Wake a Serpent 06. 20 Minutes / 40 Years 07. Threshold of Transformation 08. Way Through Woven Branches (Japanese version bonus track)	Jeff Caxide – bass Michael Gallagher – guitar Aaron Harris – drums Bryant Clifford Meyer – electronics, keyboards, guitar, vocals Aaron Turner – guitar, vocals