Wrath

Iris

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 23, 2005)
• Original Release Date: August 23, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Diffusion Records
• ASIN: B000B5UL9O
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,790 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

The original incarnation of Iris, called "Forgiving Iris", was started by Reagan and college friend Matt Morris. Realizing they had similar tastes in music, the duo started producing keyboard-heavy pop tracks, and started to realize that they were creating something special. After a few years of playing covers at local bars, and getting spots on the occasional festival, they dropped the "Forgiving", and signed to A Different Drum in 1999. The first record "Disconnect", spawned the club hit "Annie, Would I Lie To You?", which made it one of the best-selling records in the label's history. Three more singles followed, but tensions between Reagan and Matt were coming to a head, and the band began to break apart. Fast forward to 2001. Reagan had been working with various producers in the Dallas area, but with no luck. The band still went forward and played a show at the ill-fated Transcommunion Festival in Houston, where Matt met Joel Willard from CTRL, and mentioned to him that Reagan needed someone to help produce new tracks. At that time, Joel and Andrew both worked at Digital Anvil studios in Austin, and so he invited Andrew to come to lunch one day and meet Matt. After hearing some of Andrew's solo work (The Alpha Conspiracy), Matt introduced him to Reagan. Everything went well, and Reagan arrived one day with some demos in hand. The first song he played was called "Unknown", and though they didn't know it at the time, this would be the song to usher in the next phase of Iris. Forward again to the end of 2002. After two years of work, Reagan and Andrew release "Unknown", the first single from the new record that they're working on, to rave reviews. People immediately noticed the change in the Iris sound -- a bit more organic, a bit less "retro", and there's even some guitars! They also decide to amicably leave A Different Drum for Andrew's own US label, Diffusion Records. Spring 2003 sees the release of the full length album "Awakening". The first thousand limited edition copies sell out in under 3 weeks, indicating things are off to a good start.. A chance emailing with Henrik Iversen (NamNamBulu) leads to the one thing the band's been looking for -- a European deal. Signed with Infacted Recordings, a special version of "Awakening" is finally released, which gets a lot of attention in the European press. Topping it off is the offer to open for De/Vision on their January 2004 "Devolution" tour of Germany and Switzerland. After a surprisingly good tour experience, the band is offered European booking representation by Pluswelt Promotions (Apoptygma Berzerk, Mesh, Beborn Beton, De/Vision, etc). This leads to the band's first big festival appearance at Arvika 2004, with bands like Kraftwerk, Keane, and Wolfsheim. During this time, the third record was taking shape. For this record, the band wanted to take a more aggressive approach, and add a few shadows here and there. It was also decided that a number of songs were to be worked on simultaneously, to allow them to mature together, and see if they form a coherent whole. At some point names were bounced around, and "Wrath" was the one that kept sticking in their minds. They continued work on the record, interrupting it briefly to go on their first headlining tour in Germany, including a stop at the heralded Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival. This would also be their first trip with a guitarist, as they recruited the talented Brian Pearson (Low Technicians) to provide some live guitar. Arriving back home, it became clear that the record was almost finished, and the band worked hard to add the final touches and complete it. An agreement between Diffusion and Infacted cleared the way for a first for the band -- a worldwide simultaneous release! . August 2005 proves to be an exciting time, as we prepare for the launch of the third full-length album from Iris -- "Wrath".

Product Description

Taking elements of rock, glitch, retro-flavored-synth music, and coloring it with a decidedly melodic worldview, Iris is a band that's hard to classify. The new album, "Wrath", is the latest signpost in the Iris story - a record which is energetic, complex, and emotional.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They're the delivered ones., September 8, 2005

By	R O C K E T (The Twin Cities, MN) - See all my reviews

Being an enormous fan of the previous album (Awakening), my expectations for Wrath were astronomical. That is the only reason I felt the slightest bit let down by it initially. However, with each listen I like it more and more (which is exactly how Awakening was for me too) and now I absolutely freakin' love it! It does use significantly more guitars, which may at first seem offputting to synth purists, but soon you realize that those classic Iris melodies are all still there, and in top form, and the guitars don't take away from any of the brilliance. The one track that reigns supreme in my eyes is the wonderful, vengeful "Hell's Coming With Me." It's one of the darker and faster tracks from this album. I love it - it makes me want to go kick the butt of someone who's done me wrong. On the opposite end of the spectrum is my definite least favorite, "Guide On Raging Stars." Sadly, I think the music in this track is beautiful, but vocally it's disappointing - especially the bridge, which is strange and discordant and just doesn't sit right with me. Despite these things, though, I still like the song a lot and wouldn't even consider skipping over it. Other favorites are "No One Left To Lose," "It Generates" (which has an awesome, slightly creepy sampled outro that's one of my favorite moments), "Appetite," "Intercede Light," and the touching closing track, "Delivered One," which is musically reminiscent of Radiohead or even Death Cab for Cutie. The former three seem like the most obvious choices for singles, but the album really is great from beginning to end. It has much more consistency or flow than Awakening (which is neither a bad thing nor a good thing). I loved the diversity on Awakening, but I like that Wrath is somewhat thematic - almost conceptual. For those familiar with Iris, Wrath will not disappoint in the end. For those new to Iris, you NEED to own both Wrath and Awakening. Classics to the last drop. Iris is at the very top of their game, right alongside (and possibly even surpassing) genre-mates De/Vision, Mesh, Camouflage, and of course the one that started it all: Depeche Mode.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TRUE FIVE STAR MASTERPIECE, November 5, 2005

By	David Gettis "The Final Say" (BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY) - See all my reviews

Iris' third album, Wrath, proves the band is here to stay for the long run. It is their best album yet, with a coherent, edgier feel, yet it still maintains true excellence in melody. The album can be listened to straight through without skipping a song. They're all great. My favorites are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, but they're all great. Track 8 is their edgiest/roughest track ever produced, and I love it. When Reagan sings, "Ain't gonnnna beeee pretttty!" it's sick. Awesome. There's no point going into the album song for song, because they're all standouts. Once again, a true five star masterpiece of lushness, melody, maturity, great vocals, edge, and a spirit that's TRUE. You believe it. Nothing fakely produced. The album is REAL and it grabs hold and never lets go, stirring deep emotions within. With this album, they prove further to me that they're currently the best in their genre. If you love this CD, also check out Cause and Effect, Mesh, Michigan, Wideband Network, Strange Angels, Camouflage, Null Device, De/Vision, Infam, Distain!, and Beborn Beton.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Getting a bit too familiar, though the guitars help, April 9, 2006

By	Ethan Straffin (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was wondering where Iris were going to go after writing what seemed like most of the songs that could be written within their basic formula. Where they went was to add a lot more guitar to the mix -- thereby annoying a few synth purists, but I think it works for them. I'm rounding my 3 1/2 star impression up on that basis.

On the downside, just as an Everclear song is instantly recognizable as an Everclear song, an Iris song remains instantly identifiable as an Iris song. If you were to strip out the lyrics, you'd never know that "No One Left To Lose" wasn't a remix of "Hell's Coming With Me," or vice versa. Iris have their hands firmly wrapped around the throats of a select few chord changes and apparently can't be pried away from them for love or money. This is not necessarily a bad thing: if you like those chord changes, as I do, this album will be pleasant to your ears, and maybe a very good thing to crank up and sing along with on a late-night drive. What it isn't is groundbreaking, especially compared to what, say, Mesh are doing these days.