Wavering Radiant

Isis | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: May 5, 2009
• Label: Ipecac Recordings
• Copyright: (c) 2009 Ipecac Recordings
• Total Length: 54:05
• Genres:
• ASIN: B001ZWP4T4
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,593 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great accomplishment in musical art, May 5, 2009

By 

Murat Batmaz (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wavering Radiant (Audio CD)

Isis' Wavering Radiant is a tremendous accomplishment.

This album sees the band growing into a much tighter musical force, with greater focus on composition. The songs boast a feel of utter thoroughness, unlike the ones on their previous album, In the Absence of Truth. This is the result of all band members having written the album together rather than flying from the east coast to the west for sessions where every member tried to piece together their own riffs and melodies.

Although comprised by seven tracks, Wavering Radiant feels like a single composition broken down into parts for easier navigation purposes. There are nebuluos musical ideas linking the tracks together to achieve a cohesive vibe. Each cut is imbued with common musical threads, macro-compositional tonal centres, that strangely evoke previous (and following, as you go through the disc several times) numbers. What's more, sometimes the band employs the technique in the same track. The exchange of a single-riff theme between guitars, bass, drums, and even vocals on "Hand of the Host" is a prime example of this feat. Then, two tracks later, an awkwardly familiar theme appears and subtly glues them together.

Aaron Turner continues his classic harsh, raspy yells but also mixes it up with clean passages that are spread across the album. He is more courageous this time around, as he swiftly moves from his shattering growls to strangely addictive clean harmonies. In a way, this reminds me of Mikael Akerfeldt circa My Arms, Your Hearse. Though his clean singing still lacked greatly, it matched the flow of the record perfectly. The same case applies for Aaron Turner. His low, almost spoken-like delivery on the aforementioned "Hand of the Host" or the ending of "Stone to Wake a Serpent" is unexpectedly gripping given his abilities as a 'normal' singer. His clean singing has a dreamlike quality to it, and thus matches the lyrical theme of the album. Also, listen to the clean vocals on "20 Minutes / 40 Years," amidst the shimmering keyboards, heavy-duty bass, and nuanced drumming. He sounds absolutely desperate and convincing, especially when contrasted by the panicky growls later on.

Having worked with noted producer Joe Barresi (Melvins, Tool), the production is the best ever, with incredible tonal depth and sonic expanse. The drums sound a lot tighter, with some great Tool influence. There are tribal rhythms, fierce double-bass parts, and sparse, trance-like beats. The bass tone has never been better on an Isis album. Not only that, Jeff Caxide covers a broad spectrum. Rather than merely following the guitars or main melody, he assumes a central role in pretty much every song, providing counterpoint to the guitars and vocals as well as accentuating the songs' shifting moods. When he is not actively present in a progression, he serves a heavy low-end for added tension.

What cannot go unmentioned is keyboardist Bryant Clifford Meyer's contribution. His wide-ranging tone selections help achieve deeper atmospheres, especially on the Floydian pyschedelia that permeats "Threshold of Formation," by far their most epic and majestic album closer. Also, his slithering organs and shimmering keyboards draped over swirling guitar noise on the mid-section of "Hall of the Dead" are marvelous and extend the scope of the compositions.

Adam Jones from Tool appears on the album as a guest contributor, particularly shining on "Ghost Key," whose intro is both ghostly and beautifully fresh sounding. His use of modulation effects operates as a parameter to the wonderfully layered arrangement and nuanced drumming. He distills a textural element into the song which is patiently built into a quiet acoustic coda.

Wavering Radiant is an excellent body of work. This may be the album I've listened to most this year. It is absolutely addictive.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Grower Album That Has Some Great Moments, May 7, 2009

By 

Mike (Here and There) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wavering Radiant (Audio CD)

Ever since Isis moved to the West Coast, they started going toward a more mystic destination that's opposite of the darker sound they had when they were in Boston. Wavering Radiant continues the path they were on with In the Absence of Truth, only this time going along a path that needed a bit more clearing.

True to the direction the band was going in on ITAOT, the album is generally more up-tempo then their previous works and Aaron Turner may have more vocals on this record than any of the previous releases. However, the overall tone of the album is darker than their previous release, and that probably stems from their decision to part ways with long-time producer Matt Bayles and instead brought in "Evil" Joe Baressi to help the band restore some of grit in production.

As far as the songs go, it's mostly exactly what you'd expect from Isis: heavy songs that explore the space they're in and don't care to make time constraints. The difference I would think is that the band is starting to put as much emphasis on leads as they do on rhythm. The guitar work seems to be a bit more featured in this album than in albums past, the keyboards are definitely higher in the mix, and Aaron Turner is singing more, implementing both growls along to go with the "singing-as-an-instrument" motif that he's been going for since ITAOT (don't get that confused for the generic "good cop/bad cop" thing 41,793 other metal bands have going on.)

Overall, I really enjoy the album because the band's shown a considerable amount of growth since their inception and only continue to evolve. The album is great and the core songs of the album are fantastic. I would recommend this to fans of metal, progressive, and independent/alternative music. Based on the response I've gotten from people I know, this would probably appeal to any mainstream music fans who miss when the radio would play bands like Tool and Deftones.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, December 10, 2009

By 

Øystein Bye (Norway) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wavering Radiant (Audio CD)

This is not background music. This is music to listen to. If you invest som time, you will be rewarded. A combination of hardcore and prog rock. Isis plows new ground and take you on a journey you have never been on before. Simply fantastic.