• Record Label: Ipecac
  • Release Date: Oct 31, 2006
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. In the Absence of Truth is as solidly explosive and as adventuresome as Panopticon, but their elemental control over the music is greater, therefore creating a more even production.
  2. Despite a couple brief dull spots, the ingredients are so carefully selected and masterfully performed that the collection creates a pretty endlessness, existing at its best as one long take of dark-n-stormy post-rock.
  3. Alternative Press
    80
    It's certainly a leap further into the ethereal weirdness that defined 2004's shoegaze- and electronics-inspired Panopticon. [Nov 2006, p.192]
  4. Billboard
    80
    The dynamics and musicianship of songs like "Not in Rivers, but in Drops," "1000 Shards" and "Holy Tears" reveal a band at the top of its game. [4 Nov 2006]
  5. Blender
    80
    Even if the high-minded concepts prove elusive, no worries. [Nov 2006, p.138]
  6. They’ve pushed themselves on this album, striving to achieve something honestly different to what was released before it. Occasionally they’ve fallen short of perfection, but for the most part this album is a certifiable success.
  7. It’s the sound of a band knowing how to execute the formula to near-perfection, each lengthy song teasing us, ebbing and flowing hypnotically, tantalizingly hinting at a huge crescendo of sonic pyrotechnics that doesn’t quite arrive in full. In other words, a comfortable tension.
  8. They remain a fantastic band, constructing their own cities of sound, a strange architecture with wine-dark interiors.
  9. The songs are still long, the rhythms are still organic, and in general Isis still sounds like Isis.
  10. Theirs is music brimming over with passion first explored, then exploded.
  11. The New York Times
    70
    It’s still unclear where this band is going. [23 Oct 2006]
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 28
  2. Negative: 1 out of 28
  1. Oct 14, 2015
    10
    If you don't like this album, you have no taste in music. And this is AFTER their incredible vocalist is brought to trial. Seriously, thisIf you don't like this album, you have no taste in music. And this is AFTER their incredible vocalist is brought to trial. Seriously, this album is the bridge between perceiving **** "screamo" and actual talent. Full Review »
  2. ChampiodiPi
    Jul 14, 2009
    1
    Formulaic, tired, trite, boring, soulless, stargazing pretentious tommyrot. Unnecessary, redundant. Isis flog a dead horse which committed Formulaic, tired, trite, boring, soulless, stargazing pretentious tommyrot. Unnecessary, redundant. Isis flog a dead horse which committed suicide after their only slightly less awful début Oceanic and this is BEFORE their God awful vocalist is brought to trial. Full Review »
  3. EricC
    Aug 25, 2008
    7
    The album advances and reveals itself at a slower-than-sludge pace, making it one of those rare metal albums that seeks to reward patience. The album advances and reveals itself at a slower-than-sludge pace, making it one of those rare metal albums that seeks to reward patience. It has it's share of satisfying moments, but rarely ventures in to breath-taking territory. It's an impressive album, but it could have been more. Full Review »