IN THE ABSENCE OF TRUTH

I've been in an on-off relationship with Isis ever since I experienced Wavering Radiant in 2009. I was steered towards it by my girlfriend at the time who was into all these weird Post Metal bands that I've never even heard about. That album did indeed surprise me for it's clear similarities to a little band called Tool. Fortunately I didn't dismiss the album as a mere clone and was rewarded with an enlightening experience.

I haven't actually listened much to Isis after their announcement of a split-up, but that was only because I was into all these other bands that completely overshadowed my backlog of Isis releases. Eventually I knew that it was inevitable for me to return to the band at one point or another and it came to a realization during my trip to Tunisia, over the Christmas holidays. Just like before, it had to be the wise words of another female tourist that reminded me of giving Isis another shot. In The Absence Of Truth became the natural choice for me since it was released just before Wavering Radiant.

The album opening Wrists Of Kings did manage to put my fears aside of the unexpected. This track had everything that I already learned to love about Isis and only proceeded to build up their reputation in my eyes. Unfortunately this is pretty much all that I remember of my first time experience since I was much too unfocused and managed to only gasp bits and pieces of the rest of the record. You really need to actively listen to Isis in order to see the detailed layering of their music and by failing to do so I only alienated the experience. It took me about 7-8 revisits until I finally began to see the big picture that was In The Absence Of Truth and once the album settled in it did make itself seem like a powerful statement from a band who knew exactly what they were doing.

I can highly recommend this release to any fan of the Post Metal genre. It may not be a perfect album by any means, since it might get a bit repetitive and annoying if you're not a fan of the genre or plainly not in the mood for this type of music. Still, In The Absence Of Truth is worth checking out especially now that their long term fans have finally come to turns with the stylistic shift that occurred with this release.

***** star songs: Wrists Of Kings (7:45) Dulcinea (7:11)

**** star songs: Not In Rivers, But In Drops (7:48) 1000 Shards (6:18) Holy Tears (7:04) Firdous E Bareen (7:51) Garden Of Light (9:17)

*** star songs: Over Root And Thorn (8:31) All Out Of Time, All Into Space (3:04)