Isis should be out of new ideas by now. Or at least appear that way. Not because they're a bunch of by the numbers bores. Far from it, actually; the problem is circumstantial, as far too many slow-and-low acts rip off Isis riffs and cannibalize their back catalogue in the hopes of tapping into the supposed 'metalgaze' movement. Good thing Hydra Head Records co-founder/Isis frontman Aaron Turner and his not-so-merry band of mood manipulators are too talented to let copycats cramp their style –– a style that Neurosis first set into lumbering, menacing motion a decade ago. That's right. We just used the N-word, a common reference point when it comes to Isis reviews. Only we're here to tell you how In the Absence of Truth has no clear ancestor, how it carves out its own shadowy, thorny corner in the increasingly crowded underground metal scene. And what does this corner sound like? Songs you succumb to, really –– journey to the end of the earth jams with sweeping, patient dynamics and the kind of subtle melodies that could move mountains. Oh, and underpinnings of experimental electronics, like the minimal techno pulse that opens "Firdous E Bareen" and suggests that Isis' next move may be somewhere between a dark after-hours club and dingy sewer system. Whatever happens, we'll be here waiting with ears wide open.