Isis - Wavering Radiant

Artist: Isis
Album: Wavering Radiant
Genre: Post-metal
Length: 54:05
Track Listing:

1. "Hall of the Dead" – 7:39
2. "Ghost Key" – 8:29
3. "Hand of the Host" – 10:43
4. "Wavering Radiant" – 1:48
5. "Stone to Wake a Serpent" – 8:31
6. "20 Minutes / 40 Years" – 7:05
7. "Threshold of Transformation" – 9:53

Just like the albums before it, Wavering Radiant isn't a dramatic leap into unknown territory for Isis, but a paced expedition. The album still relies on the sounds, concepts, and formulas that made Oceanic and Panopticon so great, but it has expanded upon them even further than In the Absence of Truth did. None of their albums makes a great leap, yet they all push the boundaries further and further. If you listened to all the Isis albums back-to-back, there wouldn't be any huge shifts, but you would end in a wholly different place than you began.
The heavy, doom-inspired riffs of Isis's earliest roots are fading into memory, and growing importance is placed upon melody, clean vocals, and the creation truly momentous textured soundscapes. That's not to say Aaron Turner's bellowing roar and the distorted chords have vanished entirely. Both serve incredibly important functions and are present in every track outside of the title track (which is little more than an interlude between two dominating tracks). But they are refined and somewhat less frequent than earlier Isis efforts. For one, the spacious soundscapes are often painted over hypnotic guitar and bass lines and pulsing, almost tribal, drum beats rather than guitar fuzz and the manipulation of distortion.
Perhaps nothing describes this album better than it's title. The album is a sonic meteor shower, radiating from neurotic origins. The cover artwork is a visual representation, albeit slightly understating the heaviness and depth (though not the impressive scale), of the music. It dances between spacey, hypnotic passages and pounding detuned riffing with the same grace and authority of previous Isis works. But it experiments a little more with melody, which paints a stark contrast to the pounding dissonance.
This is the first time that Isis has worked with producer Joe Barresi, and the results were incredible (though Isis' production has always been excellent for the type of music they play). Barresi has previously worked with the Melvins, Tool (as engineer), Queens of the Stone Age, Clutch, and Saviours. He delivered an outstanding product with Wavering Radiant, with each instrument shining when it needs and working together to create powerful and interwoven textures.
Though it took a couple listens to really fall in love with the earlier tracks, this album delivers from start to finish, and does not pull any punches. It seduces you closer with beautiful passages, before slamming you with a wall of sound and raw power. The back half of the album is where it really shines, climaxing with "20 Minutes/40 Years", which follows of the preceding track ("Stone to Wake a Serpent") excellently.
Sadly, there are some places where the album could be better. Despite the evolution of the band, Isis still draws heavily upon tried and true recipes to create this album. As a result, some tracks are predictable and you feel like you've heard portions of them before. This is as much a result of the countless other bands who have followed Isis and used their work as a roadmap to create their music as it is Isis' own fault. Given the nature of the album, I wish it flowed a little better between songs as well. The worst offender being the end of "20 Minutes/40 Years", which simply ends, before "Threshold of Transformation" picks up with one of the chunkiest and sludgiest riffs on the album.
Wavering Radiant is an excellent album that won't disappoint the Isis faithful, and is fully accessible for the masses who haven't heard Isis before. It's yet another in a string of very strong releases in 2009, helping pave the way for one of the best years of music in recent memory.

8.5/10

Unanimated - In the Light of Darkness

Artist: Unanimated
Album: In the Light of Darkness
Genre: Blackened Death Metal/Melodic Death Metal
Length: 45:47
Track Listing:

1. Ascend With The Stench Of Death 01:49
2. Retribution In Blood 06:43
3. The Endless Beyond 05:50
4. Diabolic Voices 04:52
5. In The Light Of Darkness 04:52
6. The Unconquered One 03:36
7. Enemy Of The Sun 05:49
8. Serpent's Curse 04:44
9. Death To Life 05:22
10. Strategia Luciferi 02:10

The giants of Swedish metal past are returning, and Unanimated's return is as forceful as their exit. Unanimated hasn't released a new album since 1995, but their previous efforts are cult favorites among extreme metal audiences. Their return effort honors its roots, recapturing the sound of the Swedish death scene of the early 90s, and incorporating the Gothenburg sound without submitting to it. In the Light of Darkness also emanates heavy black metal vibes, particularly in the raspy vocals, blast beats, and tremolo-picked guitars, much in line with Unanimated's previous efforts.
The production creates a slightly murky feel, enhancing the dark and heavy feel of the album, but not so much that the melody and texturing it lost. The bass is mixed very low, barely audible at times, but provides low-end support underneath the guitars. The toms and snare are easily audible (in particular the snare), but some of the cymbals and double-bass occasionally get lost in the fray of sounds. This isn't entirely negative, especially compared to the trigger-dominated metalcore acts such as The Black Dahlia Murder.
Dominating groove-oriented rhythms play with slicing, and often tremolo-picked, melodies and pound the listener into auditory submission to the raw power of the album. The riffs are powerful and dominant, but are controlled and even elegant when need be. Solos are present, but are tasteful and add to the texturing and landscape of the song. They don't ramble on longer than they should as filler content, but add a layer of melodic voicing and a powerful statement.
Micke Jansson delivers raspy vocals in a style that's as much black metal as it is death. Both powerful and chilling, the vocals are convey a dark and evil tone even beyond the guitar-work. While a not uncommon vocal style, they don't come off as cliche or stale, but fit perfectly into the style of the album.
The album beckons you in with the eerie and foreboding intro track "Ascend With The Stench Of Death" before dropping you into the tremendously powerful "Retribution in Blood." Unanimated don't leave you many places to hide from their dominating sound, aside of acoustic passages during "Enemy of the Sun," until the outro. Yet, despite it's brutal (yet never brutal for the sake of being brutal), the majesty of the album is never lost.
The sound is somewhat reminiscent of bands like Dissection and Dismember, and captures the feel of the Swedish death scene that has been missing for a while. While not a shoo in for album of the year, this is easily one of the best efforts of 2009 so far. It's time for all the little kids who've been playing around in the melodeath world to sit down because the big boys are back, and they're ready to blow you away.

8/10