isis - wavering radiant

isis is one of those bands that have a certain attraction to me but still i would never go over the odds to get a hold on their records. i'll gladly pick up whatever i find along the way but won't unload extra cash for a specific variant or something like that. nevertheless i am always very excited when an ebay option or colour re-press pops up. this being so i was surprised to find a coloured lp offer for the band's last full length "wavering radiant" from 2009 amongst the new stuff over at per koro.

even though the record was a little bit on the expensive side, i didn't hestitate to add a copy to my cart. i always loved the visual aesthetics of isis records and "wavering radiant" is no exception. the cover art looks like it was glowing and the blue streaks have almost a 3d quality to them. the haptic of the gatefold adds to spatial feeling because it is not smooth but a little wavy. well, sort of, you have to feel it yourself, i guess.

the gatefold is one of those ultra sturdy stoughton tip-on jackets. because of the cardboard being that thick, i can't even slip the gatefold into my usual reclosable pvc sleeves. a real piece of quality work. the vinyl itself is the european pressing on black with white splatter. i was a little sceptical if the outcome was looking good. in theory a cool colour-way but mostly those variants have way too less splatter and thus look still boring. fortunately i got a copy where the guys at the pressing plant didn't save on white vinyl pellets. looking sharp!

musically this is just the moody and avant-garde metal and hardcore mix i was expecting from isis. their stuff is nothing i can listen to on a daily basis but when i am in the mood for their atmospheric yet heavy stuff, i will definitely grab "wavering radiant" with a thrill of anticipation. it's hard to pick a favourite because i understand an isis record as a whole, so i suggest you listen to all of it. 775 copies on this variant. robotic empire. 2017.

isis - in the absence of truth

a few months back, in march, i wrote about my first isis record "the red sea" and how i loved this one in comparison to other isis records. back then i said something like: "maybe i will change my opinion on them". well, now i am sitting here with my second isis record and i have of course changed my mind. there was this ebay auction with just this baby here popping up and i knew that lovely coloured isis vinyl rarely does, so i sat down and took a closer listen to "in the absence of truth", so to speak.

it was one of the isis albums that i never listened to before. after a few tracks which i thought were pretty good, i decided to take a shot on the ebay offering. i won the auction for a fair price which was around the amount one has to pay for a new double lp nowadays. after it arrived at my place, securely packed by the seller, i was very excited to drop the needle on it. i have listened to it for a handful of times by now and think it's a damn good progressive metal album.

the album immediately reminded me of red sparowes, which seems quite logically when i learned that red sparowes are a sid project of a few neurosis and isis members. i still like "the red sea" better but the evolution is quite remarkable and the unique, experimental sound of isis was genre defining. i enjoy this album all the way through. i scored an european first press on conspiracy records from belgium.

"in the absence of truth" was released by ipecac records in north america, by daymare recordings in japan and by said conspiracy records in europe. there are over 5.000 coloured vinyl copies of this album out there and still this is hard to find for a reasonable price. that says it all about the importance of this band. 500 copies made on clear with pink splatter vinyl. great combination of artwork and vinyl colour. conspiracy records. 2006.

isis - the red sea

i have tried to get into isis several times but whatever record i listened to, it didn't work for me. admittedly i didn't listen to all five full lengths, so probably i will change my opinion but for now isis isn't my cup of tea. at least not all their recorded material because there is one release that i like from start to finish and that always draws me to give them another try. this release is their 'the red sea' e.p. from back in the nineties.

these three, fifteen minutes spanning songs are full of desperation, aggression, darkness and sophisticated twists, that it is hard for me to see that this e.p. was only a small evolutionary step in the band's development. i really wished there was more of this great stuff. anyway, fortunately the band decided to include the '98 demo on cd first and all subsequent 12" pressings got it, too. the four songs of the demo are just as great as the original 'the red sea' e.p. check it out in all its glory.

'the red sea' was initially released on an 8" format. the first two vinyl pressings came on this quite unusual vinyl format. in 2006 the label decided to give it the 12" treatment, which i think is way better. i have a copy of the last, the fifth 12" pressing from already four years ago. it was pressed for record store day 2012 and comes in a fold-over piece of cardboard functioning as a cover and a printed dust sleeve. 500 copies made on this nice black and white merge colour pattern. second nature recordings. 1999/2012.