IN THE ABSENCE OF TRUTH

In the Absence of Truth was my first experience with the post metal genre, and I must say that I was quite pleased. Isis combines the atmospherics of many post rock bands (GY!BE comes to mind) with metal instrumentation, including plenty of distorted guitar. The songs aren't different enough from each other to merit a song-by-song, though they don't all sound the same. Basically, each song combines guitar and bass in various forms with drums to create a dark and menacing atmosphere. The only problem is the vocals and the length. When the singing is clean, it sounds great- but the growling parts really strike me as annoying, though I usually dislike growling in a vocal context, and I know there are others who share this opinion. As far as length goes, there isn't really enough diversity or stylistic change for over an hour's work, and some of the mellower, quieter spacey parts, like the first two minutes of Over Root and Thorn, could easily be omitted. Overall, it is an interesting and very well-made album by a talented and unique band, recommended to fans of heavy atmospheric music. I'd say it's a weak four star album, but a four star album nonetheless.