isi

iSi Soda Siphon Brushed Aluminum 2248
$69.95
This is a high quality soda siphon. I got it first to get rid of all the soda water that I buy everytime I go to the grocery store. So far, the taste is better than regular store-bought soda. The cap must be screwed on VERY TIGHTLY when inserting the CO2 cartridge. It cannot be loose like the other jars you are used to. And to cap it on very tightly takes quite a bit of force, which sometimes I forget and the siphon starts leaking water from the cap. The ISI CO2 cartridges are quite expensive too, but I bought other 3rd party cartridges work as well, flawlessly.

So far, I am satisfied with this siphon, which I got as a gift. Whether I would buy the same one myself... Hmmm... I don't know...

Wavering Radiant
$16.98
Is the one word to describe Isis's lastest offering 2009's "Wavering Radiant", I mean it is simply incredible beyond words, I just love it. Isis are such an awesomely powerful and tight band, but they also have such a strong sense of melody and song structures. They seem to get better and more melodic with every album they put out, and "Wavering Radiant" is no exception whatsoever. This album is definately Isis's best and most dynamic release to date. It has a lot of everything. Some of it is more melodic, some of it is heavier and darker, and some is more atmospheric, and even trippy and psychedelic at times as well. With help from noted producer Joe Barresi (Tool, The Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age) who replaces Matt Bayles (who produced Isis's first four studio albums "Celestial", "Oceanic", "Panopticon", and "In the Absence of Truth"), the production on this album is simply at it's best here with no flaws whatsoever, it just never sounded better. This album also features a guest appearance from Tool guitarist Adam Jones who handles additional guitars on the first track "Hall of the Dead", and keyboards on track four "Wavering Radiant" as well. Everybody is in top form here. Aaron Turner's vocals are definately at their best here and there also more understandable as well, as he proudly leads the way throughout with his classic harsh and raspy yells and growls that he's best known for, but he also mixes it up with awesome clean, melodic singing passages. You can sure tell that Turner has spent more time in the studio with his voice this time around. He's got one of the most unique voices in metal, no questions asked. The guitars of Turner and Mike Gallagher are absolutely top notch throughout here, with big, heavy, and powerful riffs combined with soothing and addicting melodic instrumental passages that will drift your mind away to a different dimension. Electronics guru Clifford Meyer's multi-instrumentation duties play a much stronger role on this album, as he delivers fantastic atmospheric textures and uplifting keyboard effects that make the band sound almost reminiscent like Pink Floyd. Jeff Caxide's bass is just awesomely solid, deep, heavy, and hearable throughout, I really like the bass tone on here too, and of course skinsman Aaron Harris's drumming is simply splendid and tighter than ever before, and I do agree with Murat Batmaz (read his review btw) that the drums on here do have some great Tool influences. The beats are loud, heavy, and very trance-like, and there's also some tribal rhythms and some fierce double-bass parts as well.

The Songs.

Every song on "Wavering Radiant" is simply amazing. The first song "Hall of the Dead" is an incredibly dynamic and powerful opener, and it's also in my opinion one of the best songs in Isis's catalog. This song is just absolutely amazing, the vocals, guitars, bass, drums, it's all good. There's also great use of the organ and keyboards in the mid-section of the song as well, and I also dig Turner's clean vocals near the end. My favorite song on here, that being track two "Ghost Key" starts off with an addicting keyboard and clean guitar melody, and then goes into heavy, booming power chords and harsh growls, and then it quickly goes back to the keyboards and guitar melodies, and then back to the heavier riffs and growls. This song also features some great clean vocals around 3:36 which lead into more massive, crushing riffs and heart wrenching yells around 4:25, and there's an catchy melodic instrumental passage around 5:30 which leads into more great clean singing at 7:09, and there's more crashing power chords and raw powered yells at the end. Track three "Hand of the Host" is another awesome cut that features some hefty, marching drum beats, crushing, sludgy riffs, and more heartfelt growls around 1:30. This song also showcases Aaron's majestic and powerful melodic voice, and there's also some catchy melodic guitar parts that sound almost somewhat psychedelic especially around 4:47. The short instrumental "Wavering Radiant" is a small but psychedelic interval that leads into the following track "Stone to Wake a Serpent" which is another amazing and immense song, and "20 Minutes/40 Years" is another one of my favorites here that features a solid first section with some awesome ultra-heavy bass from Caxide at the beginning, and there's also more excellent and passionate melodic singing vocals from Turner as well as those torturing yet heart wrenching howls. The mid section of this song is very floaty and melodic, and there's also some heavily crushing sludge-esque riffage and double-bass parts near the end as well, and last but not least, "Threshold of Transformation" is a monster, and I DO mean to say a monster of an album closer with the first half being heavy, crushing, and balls-out, and the last half being an unbelievable dose of pure epic goodness that will give you goosebumps.

Favorite songs: Ghost Key, Hall of The Dead, Hand of the Host, Threshold of Transformation, and 20 Minutes/40 Years.

Overall, "Wavering Radiant" is an incredibly dynamic work of musical art, and it is without question one of the BEST metal albums of 2009 as well. This album is simply an addictive listen especially while wearing headphones with the volume turned up. If you're a fan of Isis like myself, then by all means, you gotta get this epic masterpiece, belive me, this album requires your immediate listening attention. Highly Recommended!!

Panopticon
$16.98
Isis are such an awesome post-metal band. Their 2004 release Panopticon is just absolutely incredible beyond words, I just love it. I got this album along with Oceanic (2002) last year, and I've quickly become a fan of Isis since then. Panopticon is just full of amazingly epic and atmospheric instrumental passages, sparse vocals, thundering and mind crippling riffs and beautiful soul soothing clean melodies, this entire album will embrace and envelop you while forcefully lure your mind away into a dark and vast unknown world. This album is definately a trip, no questions asked. Whenever I listen to a band like Isis, I sometimes like to imagine myself walking by myself on a nice warm beach or think about outer space and stuff like that. I really enjoy listening to Isis, especially after having a rough day at work and just simply chill out. Their music is just perfect for chilling out and wanting to get away from it all, it simply just takes you off into a whole different world. The production on here courtesy of Matt Bayles (who also produced Oceanic) is just simply top notch, and the musicianship of the band is incredibly tight throughout. Aaron Turner's vocals are very unique on here with an amazing combination of hardcore-ish yells and howls and sparse melodic clean singing. I really like the combination of harsh yells and clean singing on here, they definately fit the music. Just listen to 2:38 of track two "Backlit" where Aaron switches from harsh yells to clean singing back and forth, it's really amazing. The guitars of Turner and Mike Gallagher are absolutely incredible and monumental with heavy, tight, crushing and mind crippling riffs and beautifully atmospheric and clean melodies that'll soothe your mind and put you in dreamland, while electronics guru Cliff Meyer adds great textures that add to the atmosphere of the band's sound. Jeff Caxide and Aaron Harris both provide an excellently tight and powerful rhythm section with great smooth, tasty basslines from Caxide and simple yet hefty, powerful and effective drumming by Harris.

The first track "So Did We" is an awesome opener that kicks off this post-metal masterpiece, and it immediately starts off with heavy guitars and a slow and steady drum beat that are shortly joined by Turner's hardcore-ish howls until around 30 seconds, the song goes into a nice melodic passage, and then at 2:20, more heavier riffs come back into play with cleaner vocals from Turner backing them up, and then from the 3 minute mark to the very end, the song goes into an amazing instrumental passage that will leave you breathless. Track two "Backlit" is my favorite song on here that begins with soothing clean guitar melodies and a slow drum beat and smooth, sailing basslines, then around 1:36 the heavier guitars come barging in and they're quickly joined by Turner's soaring clean vocals, until the song goes back into more clean guitars at 2:07. My favorite part of the song is at 2:38 where Turner is switching from harsh yells to cleaner melodic singing over crippling walls of mammoth riffs.

The next song "In Fiction" is another fantastic track that starts off clean and melodic, until Turner's clean vocals come in at 4:16, and later the song gets heavier around 4:47 with heavier, distorted power chords, deep bass, and simple yet powerful hefty drums. Track four "Wills Dissolve" also starts off slow, clean and melodic, but later kicks into heavy riffing territory at 3:16, and I also like Harris's hefy drumming around 3:50. The next two songs "Syndic Calls" and "Altered Course" both continue this amazingly atmospheric journey (the latter mentioned "Altered Course" is a near 10 minute epic instrumental that features Tool bassist Justin Chancellor), and "Grinning Mouths" is an awesome album closer that ends this amazing post-metal journey in pure Isis fashion.

Stand-out tracks: Backlit, So Did We, In Fiction, Altered Course, and Wills Dissolve.

Overall, Panopticon is just absolutely flawless from start to finish in every single aspect of the word, and it also proves that metal can be embracing and enveloping and atmospheric while guiding you into a vast, unknown world. Sure, this album might be more melodic and not as heavy as Oceanic, but this is still an amazingly brilliant post-metal essential with no bad moments whatsoever. I highly recommend Panopticon to any fan of Isis, metal, post-metal, post-rock, hardcore, or just heavy atmopsheric music, plain and simple! Long Live Isis!!

iSi 10-Pack Soda Chargers, Gold
$9.99
These seem to work better than the non isi ones - less gas escaping when using. Little pricey in my opinion.