It wasn’t too long ago since Isis played their last gig in the Netherlands. On December 11th, the band performed in Utrecht’s Tivoli De Helling. Half a year later, I was happy too see them in Eindhoven’s Effenaar, but this time with a new album (Wavering Radiant) under their arm.

Isis’ support this evening came from New York City’s Destructo Swarmbots. Or should I say Destructo Swarmbot, since only Mike Mare showed up tonight, instead of performing together with Joshua Booth. Mike played some very tripping ambient/drone music, with only a guitar in his hands and a laptop used for effects and samples/noises. With his instrument he created dreamy soundwaves, but because the volume wasn’t that high, I became quite irritated by all the folks who kept on talking during his show. Is it really that hard to shut your mouth for 45 minutes? This way I just couldn’t get into his music, but I couldn’t blame the musician.

Luckily, the audience was silent during today’s headliner. Isis performed a very strong show, with a very good sound. The volume during their outbursts wasn’t to the max, but this way all the fine melodies and details became clearly audible. The band kicked off with one of their new tracks, and kept on playing new tunes throughout the whole evening. Tracks that certainly passed by were “Hall Of The Dead” and “Ghost Key”, amongst a couple of others, and were combined with older material from Oceanic and Panopticon. The band’s play felt very natural and made it easy to get lost in. Isis is definitely is in top condition, so I wouldn’t be sad if they do just another tour at the end of the year.