WAVERING RADIANT

WAVERING RADIANT is the first Isis album I've heard that I actually enjoyed listening to. It is WAY more vocal and drum-based than previous outings and it is extremely brutal and heavy-hitting rather than spacey or meandering. A lot of the songs musically remind of Tool, but the vocals are a whole other matter. Aaron Turner is a very capable vocalist (though not as good as Mikael Akerfeldt or Maynard James Keenan) but he can still balance out death metal grunts and growls with melodic vocals--for a great example of this listen to the track "Hand of the Host." Without a doubt this is the most *musical* album Isis has ever released, although their previous release IN THE ABSENCE OF TRUTH is a close second. Check this out if you're a fan of, obviously, Tool, Pelican, Mastodon, Opeth, or just about any other post-metal or progressive death metal band out there. Highlights: N/A. GRADE: A- (90%)