ISIS

[E-Money]

What a shame, just saw the news on Pitchfork....I got to see them open for Tool a while back and they were great.  Unfortunately there were plenty of Isis shows I could have attended and didn't..... bummer. 

[ben]

I wonder what Turner will focus on now.  Twilight?  Lotus Eaters?  Nothing?

[Nebontha]

That is saddening, they made some of the best music of the '00s...

[lostpilot]

I'm drooling over Wavering Radiant.
It's so incredibly good.
We got blazed last night with my friend and listened to it entirely. supergreat.
Threshold of Transformation = complete winrar

[theis]

I'm drooling over Wavering Radiant.
It's so incredibly good.
We got blazed last night with my friend and listened to it entirely. supergreat.
Threshold of Transformation = complete winrar

Sweet, dude.

The vocals don't bother you anymore?

[lostpilot]

I'm drooling over Wavering Radiant.
It's so incredibly good.
We got blazed last night with my friend and listened to it entirely. supergreat.
Threshold of Transformation = complete winrar

Sweet, dude.

The vocals don't bother you anymore?

no! I am absolutely glad with the vocals now. It makes perfect sense, kinda

edit: I should call this experience "the power of a joint"

[epistaxis]

20 Minutes/40 Years video:
http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?artist=1471496&vid=443647

Trippy stuff.

I love that video. One of the reasons I got into them.

[bright lights, big city]

I'm drooling over Wavering Radiant.
It's so incredibly good.
We got blazed last night with my friend and listened to it entirely. supergreat.
Threshold of Transformation = complete winrar

Sweet, dude.

The vocals don't bother you anymore?

no! I am absolutely glad with the vocals now. It makes perfect sense, kinda

edit: I should call this experience "the power of a joint"

it's official your hardcore now, man

[lostpilot]

I'm drooling over Wavering Radiant.
It's so incredibly good.
We got blazed last night with my friend and listened to it entirely. supergreat.
Threshold of Transformation = complete winrar

Sweet, dude.

The vocals don't bother you anymore?

no! I am absolutely glad with the vocals now. It makes perfect sense, kinda

edit: I should call this experience "the power of a joint"

it's official your hardcore now, man

I feel more a man today than I was yesterday

[theis]

For those interested - complete ISIS discography: http://cultofruins.blogspot.com/2009/10/isis-discography.html

[lostpilot]

I've listened through whole 'In the Absence of Truth'.

Well, first of all, I don't yet feel the overall feeling of whole album, it does seem a little detached for me personally. I was highly confused by the first two songs, cause I did not really fully understand what was going on, but then the awesome 'Dulcinea' kinda soothed me back into feeling okay about the album. Musically it is great and fits the Isis profile in my eyes, though 'Wavering Radiant' is a little more "out there", or this album has to yet grow on me - not entirely sure. Then after 'Dulcinea' most of the songs seemed memorable in a way - for example, '1000 Shards' or 'Firdous E Bareen' (which is lovely to listen to - it's in a way more experimental than everything else on this album. well, maybe except the random noises and all that), they seem to have memorable soundscapes and all the movements and all.

I'm not entirely sure about the mixing and mastering though - I personally think the album COULD have had a more "soft" mastering, but I guess it does not annoy me too much (only at some random times), so generally it is okay.

Next stop - 'Panopticon'.

[deftoner664]

Sucks so bad... Never got to see them... *sigh*.... But the did go out with a bang; wavering radiant was by far their best... Panopticon following behind

[svjchtr]

Really want to see them live but their last show on the west coast is sold out, and I'm not sure I can overcome my laziness and show up there to try find tickets.


Really sad, as they are probably my favorite band, but I can respect wanting to get out before their albums started getting bad.

[Nebontha]

For those interested - complete ISIS discography: http://cultofruins.blogspot.com/2009/10/isis-discography.html

Speaking of "interesting": that site doesn't list the James Plotkin remix of "The Other" on the ISIS - Oceanic Remixes - Reinterpretations (it should be listed as track 4, the DJ Speedranch remix of "Carry" is also listed as track #4 in the .rar folder,  so I see where the possible dyslexic confusion happened), but the track IS included in the .rar folder, so it's all good then.

anyway, good post you have there, mucho kudos
respek (lol)

[lostpilot]

I love 'Dulcinea'

[theis]

I love 'Dulcinea'

The ending of that song makes my brain melt. Pure awesomeness.

But duuuude, listen to Panopticon. I really wanna hear your thoughts on it!

[the deft ones]

I love 'Dulcinea'

The ending of that song makes my brain melt. Pure awesomeness.

But duuuude, listen to Panopticon. I really wanna hear your thoughts on it!

To be honest, Panopticon is my personal fave.
Dunno if it's because it's the first one I heard - but it just seems to pack the most punch to me.
Love Oceanic and Wavering Radiant, but Panopticon is the business.

By the way, if anyone's in the know - is the remix album worth getting a hold of?

[lostpilot]

I love 'Dulcinea'

The ending of that song makes my brain melt. Pure awesomeness.

But duuuude, listen to Panopticon. I really wanna hear your thoughts on it!

I promise you I will, I just need some time. I don't want to put my mind on too much material from one band at the same time - that way the "extra" material will seem less good. :0

[lostpilot]

"Panopticon"

I'm not sure what is it with it, but Isis' album intros leave me confused. Maybe because there are no post-music-ish slow long feedbacking intros or something, but, lets say as with 'So Did We', I am listening to the song and not really quite getting into it. But after some time things get back on track, the song transforms into an instrumental bliss, boom - 'Backlit', and the hopes for a better album mixing/mastering are saved. Not sure if I like "growling-only" vocals, but since I am almost completely used to them - things are alright.

And then - swoosh, into 'In Fiction', whose live version I have already heard - but it is blissful how this song continues the albums saga within musically and emotionally, throughout 9 minutes transforming the silence back into 'Backlit' theme. Pure greatness. Mesmerizing melodies and lovely crescendo! I'm not sure why, but this song reminds me of 'Weight'. By this song the album launches you into space, generally - cause I could say tracks 1 and 2 are pretty much like a "take off" moment.

I did not expect the song to flow directly into 'Wills Dissolve', an almost ambient-mood-changer, into the sinister, a sudden twist in the songs finale, and boom, we're off to 'Syndic Calls', again, continuing the musical landscape. Which is great - I enjoy albums that are inter-connected through songs. Great concept. I should notice that throughout the album I can feel a transition from melancholic/depressive atmosphere to destructive/anger/depressive atmosphere and then back again. Well, at least up to this song, when the song suddenly shifts to "hopeful", which is ALWAYS a nice transition.

I should say, the second half of 'Syndic Calls' is my second favorite section in 'Panopticon' along with 'In Fiction'. 'Altered Course' seems more like a mood transition in this album. It's like a prelude to itself, a great song, but in the album's context it does seem a little lost. And here we are - the finale, 'Grinning Mouths'. I am a person who expects a lot from album intro's and finales, and at this point Isis seemed to kinda disappoint me when it came to intros, but never when it came to the album finales.

I was a little put off by the songs intro, but then once again things swelled into something completely different. And there again, explosions, noise, distortion, a great finale, the album's away.



overall, I should notice that artistically and composition-ally this album is as great as the others, maybe even greater, but the production and performance in this album are slightly different, a little less professional - well at least in my eyes (when it comes to singing, of course). Is it just me, or this album is a lot more instrumental than the other ones? Also, the album - for me personally - had the moments where you'd guess what would happen further, but in a good way.

At this point,

Wavering Radiant > Panopticon
Wavering Radiant > In Absence of Truth
Panopticon ? In Absence of Truth

[theis]

Nice review.

It's funny, 'cause the first 3 songs on Panopticon are actually my favorites.