Music Journalist & Editor of Rockum
After months of mounting anticipation and mass critical praise, Georgia bred metal powerhouse IRIST has released their debut album, ORDER OF THE MIND, via Nuclear Blast.
IRIST. A word thats not a word. Contained inside, however, are wordsrist, iris, and stirthat hold not just heavy meaning but are powerful descriptors that define the boundless potential of extreme metals newest and brightest hopeful. Rist is to carve a rune (or symbol) into stone. The concept of permanence and longevity is rife throughout IRISTs debut album, Order of the Mind. The recently formed quintet have, in effect, crafted a debut that will withstand time.
An iris can refer to a mechanism that controls light received or a flower that has, since time immemorial, represented courage and wisdom. Indeed, theres nothing but courage on display by three of IRISTs five members who traveled from their South American homelands to arrive at, live in, and form a band in Atlanta.
To stir is entirely musical. The thrum of heavy emotion imbued into and emanating out of singles Burning Sage, Creation, and Severed is above and beyond the outfits mere five years together.
At once a representative of contemporary anxiety and old-fashioned aggression, Order of the Mind is hewn from the very same things that made SEPULTURAs Chaos A.D., MACHINE HEADs Burn My Eyes, MASTODONs Crack the Skye, and GOJIRAs The Way of All Flesh so timeless and irrepressibly great. In short, IRISTs debut, Order of the Mind, is a must-hear.
IRIST was formed in the summer of 2015 by Pablo Davila (guitar) and best friend Bruno Segovia (bass). Originally from Argentina and Chile, respectively, both members of IRIST grew up in musical households. Davila, for instance, heard everything from PINK FLOYD to salsa legend Willie Colo?n. Likewise, Segovia experienced a similar range, from Vi?ctor Jara to DEEP PURPLE. But what really set off the duos imagination was witness to SEPULUTRAs meteoric rise from Belo Horizonte to the world stage. Indeed, they thought: if SEPULTURA had smashed the door into bits by sheer weight of their music alone, then IRIST could too. Quickly, the twosome brought on fellow Atlantans Adam Mitchell (guitar) and Jason Sokolic (drums). But IRIST wouldnt become IRIST until vocalist Rodrigo Carvalho (vocals), a Brazilian, joined the fold. It was then, after measured improvement as songwriters and an extended courtship with Monte Conner, that IRIST inked the Nuclear Blast deal and the rest is history.
I was instantly attracted to the bands high level of song writing and arranging, says Conner. They were a new band but already highly evolved and operating at a very sophisticated level, and with Order of the Mind they made a record that sounds more like a band that were on their second or even third album.
We really just want to create a style of music that we would want to hear if we werent in the band, adds Davila. We want to write the best songs we can possibly come up with and get them to anyone out there willing to listen. Were also working towards putting ourselves in a position in which we can tour the world relentlessly and put on a live show that mirrors the unique atmosphere we feel weve managed to build with Order of the Mind.
What Davila is talking about is IRISTs uncanny ability to write songsmassive songsthat are absurdly memorable and yet super-charged. While there are vestiges of the groups pan-South American heritage (from Andean music to heroes SEPULTURA) throughout Order of the Mind, the bands collective influences come from all parts of the heavy spectrum. From THE MELVINS, RAOTS DE PORAO, and ALICE IN CHAINS to THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SOUNDGARDEN, and CONVERGE, IRIST fold in, twist fervently, and scorch their faves until theyre decidedly protean and uniquely a product of the fivesomes songwriting prowess. To wit, album opener Eons is IRISTs intelligent hammer. It pounds with purpose but since IRIST operate beyond their years not everything in the bands view is a nail. Likewise, Dead Prayers and the title track bulldoze the cliche?s of hardcore and death metal but honor the genres timeworn tenets. The Well, however, irrupts before settling into a killer groove. Its the kind of song only IRIST could fashion out of their varied influences into single, driving force. In many respects, Order of the Mind is itinerant, introspective, portentous, indefatigable in its attack, but thats not all it is either. IRISTs angst-powered thrusts are distinctly advanced.
The first two songs that we wrotefrom the Order of the Mind songwriting sessionswere Eons and Burning Sage, Davila says. Rodrigo hadnt joined the band at that point, so after he joined there were some stylistic changes that needed to be made to those two songs. We didnt have a complete grasp of what we sounded like or were capable of doing until a little later. Things did in fact become more fluid after Severed was written. Severed was the first track that Id written and recorded most of the parts for at my house. The fact that you cant define [us] musically I think says a lot. We draw influences and ideas from so many places that on paper it seems like it shouldnt work, but it does. I would still generally describe us as a metal band, but not every song particularly feels metal. That isnt a conscious thing thats planned out. It just happens. I think at the end of the day, every member of the band feels like theres at least one part of each song that draws from a band or influence that feels personal to them, and thats important to me.
Order of the Mind was engineered, produced, and mixed by rising studio star Lewis Johns at the Ranch Production House in Southampton, UK. It took IRIST and Johns three full weeks to capture the vibrant intensity that flows naturally from opener Eons to closer Nerve. While they didnt have a model in place for the overall sound, the band were smitten by the drum sound Johns had secured for British sludge purveyors CONJURER. So, IRIST used what was happening on CONJURERs Mire album as a general reference. But Pablo says its important to point out Order of the Mind is full of opposing forces, textures, and layers, so no single sonic model fit perfectly. As for the mastering of IRISTs debut, Grammy Award-winning ace Ted Jensen (MEGADETH, DREAM THEATER) was brought onboard to handle Order of the Mind at his renowned Sterling Sound. As it so happens with IRIST, hard work was one of the reasons the studio sessions were uncomplicated.
It was less stressful than we thought it would be, says Davila. Keep in mind though that for the year that it took to write these songs, we spent pretty much every single week in Adams home studio here in Atlanta, so we were already in studio mode by the time we started recording in the UK. Also, Lewis is the easiest guy in the world to work with and there are a lot of shared musical influences between us. That translates to less explaining where an idea stemmed from or where its going because he just gets it.
As for whats next for IRIST the secret isnt so secret. The plan: to let Order of the Mind do most of the talking. Its time for the Georgians to shock and awe. The fact that theyve kept the band name private, the music close to the vest, and their intentions of global domination hidden in the social media age is reason enough to expect the Atlantans to suddenly and intensely blow the roof off metaldom (and beyond). To do that, IRIST will be performing Order of the Mind live as often as the road will have them.
Thats absolutely going to be our course of action, Davila says. Kiss our loved ones goodbye, pack our gear into a van, and stay on the road for a large portion of the foreseeable future. Weve put everything into the writing of Order of the Mind. Now, its time to focus on putting on a live show that will do the album justice.
A new generation of heavy is upon us. IRIST are leading the charge with Order of the Mind...
(Photo Credit: Susy Irais Reyes)
1. Eons 3:48
2. Burning Sage The Cleansing 4:15
3. Severed 3:39
4. Creation 5:42
5. Dead Prayers 4:02
6. Insurrection 3:58
7. Order of the Mind 3:15
8. Harvester 4:09
9. The Well 3:46
10. Nerve 3:50
Rodrigo Carvalho-(Lead vocals)
Adam Mitchell-(Guitars and vocals)
Pablo Davila-(Guitars)
Bruno Segovia-(Bass)
Jason Belisha-(Drums)
Genre: Metal
Length: 40:24
Format: Digital- CD- LP
Producer: N/A
Barcode ID: N/A
Production: N/A
Label: Nuclear Blast
Country: USA
Released Date: 27 March 2020
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