Review Summary: Isis has made a fantastic album here and in my opinion there best, not everyone will see it this way though.
I first fell in love with Isis back in the early months of 2005 after reading everybody’s "best of '05" lists and seeing "Isis - Panopticon" popping up quite a lot. So I got the album and was blown away by the sprawling Epic sounds coming from my speakers. I then went out and got there previous albums to find that these guys have been making amazing stuff for quite some time now, Oceanic beeing one of the best album i think I've ever heard.
In October of 2006 Isis released their 4th album "In The Absence of truth.” I got this as soon as it came out and at first I must admit I was let down, it just didn't seem to be the emotional epic classic that there past albums were but I decided to keep giving it ago convincing myself that Isis can not make a less then amazing album. Boy am I glad I did, round about my 10th listen it finally clicked, the melody’s made sense, I found that impact that I got before.
"Absence.." continues the way they where heading with Panopticon, softer more restraint songs all about the atmosphere. Here Aaron Turner sings in a clean voice for pretty much the whole album with occasional bursts of his amazing growl here and there. One of the critic's gripes about Panopticon was that it was a bit predicable, one could sense when the band was about to let go and rip your face off, here Isis tend to tease the listener. Songs build up but then disolve back into a mellow pace only to all of a sudden blow up in your ***ing face now and then. Some people may miss the slow build up and release of much of Panopticon but personally I think this way makes it all that much more interesting.
Songs to mention would be the "Over root and thorn" which is pretty laid back Post-rock track with some amazing singing, the kind of song that seems to need to be turned up as it progresses. "1000 Shards” is a much the same but with some vocal effects which works really well and to my knowledge hasn't been used before by Isis.
The strangely titled instrumental "Firdous E Bareen" starts off with electronic drums which also is a first for Isis, before the real drums kick into a tribal sounding beat accompanied by ambient electronic and guitar sounds, Very spacey track. The album is wrapped up by "Garden Of Light" which is by far the best ending track Isis have done.
Isis has made a fantastic album here and in my opinion there best, not everyone will see it this way though. If you thought “Oceanic” was Isis at there peak you might not agree with me, but I recommend even the people that didn't like “Panopticon” to give this album a good listen. It may take some time and effort to get into but I think most people will agree that it pays off in full.
