If The Cure were a metal band (à la Godflesh, not Skid Row), they’d probably sound a lot like Isis. An Isis record is usually a workout for your head, and Wavering Radiant is no exception. It’s their fifth long player and it showcases their strengths in spades: the solid songwriting, the slow builds, the scathing crescendos, the cathartic releases. Keyboards used to be a sign of going soft, but in the hands of Clifford Meyer, they’re as searing as the sun. With Jeff Caxide’s echoey, spaced-out bass and Aaron Turner’s gruff vocals, as well as the meandering song structures, we could consider Isis the flagship of their own genre: prog-core. Wavering Radiant is aptly named and a perfect entry point into their world.

—Roy Christopher, 17 July 2009