IRIS: Wrath

Iris

Wrath

© 2005 Diffusion Records (803676001124)

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Veteran electro-rockers return with their third acclaimed full-length. Melodic, emotional, glitchy, wonderful pop music.

notes

Reagan Jones - Vocals, songwriting
Andrew Sega - Programming, orchestration, guitars

Taking elements of rock, glitch, retro-flavored-synth music, and coloring it with a decidedly melodic worldview, Iris is a band that's hard to classify. The new album, "Wrath", is the latest signpost in the Iris story - a record which is energetic, complex, and emotional.

The original incarnation of Iris, called "Forgiving Iris", was started by Reagan and college friend Matt Morris. Realizing they had similar tastes in music, the duo started producing keyboard-heavy pop tracks, and started to realize that they were creating something special. After a few years of playing covers at local bars, and getting spots on the occasional festival, they dropped the "Forgiving", and signed to A Different Drum in 1999. The first record "Disconnect", spawned the club hit "Annie, Would I Lie To You?", which made it one of the best-selling records in the label's history. Three more singles followed, but tensions between Reagan and Matt were coming to a head, and the band began to break apart.

Fast forward to 2001. Reagan had been working with various producers in the Dallas area, but with no luck. The band still went forward and played a show at the ill-fated Transcommunion Festival in Houston, where Matt met Joel Willard from CTRL, and mentioned to him that Reagan needed someone to help produce new tracks. At that time, Joel and Andrew both worked at Digital Anvil studios in Austin, and so he invited Andrew to come to lunch one day and meet Matt. After hearing some of Andrew's solo work (The Alpha Conspiracy), Matt introduced him to Reagan. Everything went well, and Reagan arrived one day with some demos in hand. The first song he played was called "Unknown", and though they didn't know it at the time, this would be the song to usher in the next phase of Iris.

Forward again to the end of 2002. After two years of work, Reagan and Andrew release "Unknown", the first single from the new record that they're working on, to rave reviews. People immediately noticed the change in the Iris sound -- a bit more organic, a bit less "retro", and there's even some guitars! They also decide to amicably leave A Different Drum for Andrew's own US label, Diffusion Records. Spring 2003 sees the release of the full length album "Awakening". The first thousand limited edition copies sell out in under 3 weeks, indicating things are off to a good start.. A chance emailing with Henrik Iversen (NamNamBulu) leads to the one thing the band's been looking for -- a European deal. Signed with Infacted Recordings, a special version of "Awakening" is finally released, which gets a lot of attention in the European press. Topping it off is the offer to open for De/Vision on their January 2004 "Devolution" tour of Germany and Switzerland. After a surprisingly good tour experience, the band is offered European booking representation by Pluswelt Promotions (Apoptygma Berzerk, Mesh, Beborn Beton, De/Vision, etc). This leads to the band's first big festival appearance at Arvika 2004, with bands like Kraftwerk, Keane, and Wolfsheim.

During this time, the third record was taking shape. For this record, the band wanted to take a more aggressive approach, and add a few shadows here and there. It was also decided that a number of songs were to be worked on simultaneously, to allow them to mature together, and see if they form a coherent whole. At some point names were bounced around, and "Wrath" was the one that kept sticking in their minds. They continued work on the record, interrupting it briefly to go on their first headlining tour in Germany, including a stop at the heralded Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival. This would also be their first trip with a guitarist, as they recruited the talented Brian Pearson (Low Technicians) to provide some live guitar. Arriving back home, it became clear that the record was almost finished, and the band worked hard to add the final touches and complete it. An agreement between Diffusion and Infacted cleared the way for a first for the band -- a worldwide simultaneous release. August 2005 proves to be an exciting time, as we prepare for the launch of the third full-length album from Iris -- "Wrath".

reviews

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  • Awesome!
    author: Bella

    This is by far the best new band I've heard in ages! You MUST own this!

  • Pretty good sound.
    author: Ryan

    I first heard this band on one of the x-fire band of the week thing through the video they had there. I heard the live version of Lands of Fire and I was instantly hooked on the sound that this band produced. I look forward to hearing more.

  • Great CD
    author: Tim

    I first heard IRIS on Myspace and I have bought both CDs. I love this new one! Hope more will follow!

  • Incredible - a CD you listen to from beginning to end
    author: Jim Schnyder

    I became a huge fan after hearing this CD. IRIS has a sound that invokes memories and moves you. Listening to the CD is like having all of my old favorites from the 80's thrown into a blender and adding a new feel. Reagan Jones songwriting is amazing and his voice sounds to me like a cross between old Peter Murphy with some David Gahan and Martin Gore mixed in. Andrew Sega delivers on the programming. I am a fan of the guitar riffs and love the beginning to "Hells Coming With Me." If you have time to hear just one song that will help make your decision - check out "Appetite".

  • My favorite album.
    author: dj Busby

    Iris is my favorite band, and this is my favorite album. I could write pages on it but i'll leave it at that.

  • Amazing Record. Definitely in the top 5 albums i've heard this year.
    author: Jesse in Wa

    I love this album from start to finish! The songs are slower overall than those i've heard in the past - this however doesn't detract from the album, I think it adds a deeper meaning; In that the songs seem crafted differently and the lyrics seem more heartfelt so it makes sense that they would be a bit slower. I really like the applications the band chose for the guitar parts, they combine seamlessly with the other music, something not heard often in this genre. The vocals are tremendous with great melodic range, something i've grown accustomed to hearing with Iris...This record didn't disappoint in that regard one bit. In fact, some of the vocals and songs are their best yet! Overall, I feel this album should make the industry turn their head towards some of the sounds coming from this genre, this record could go far with the right promotion and label backing it.

  • X-cellent
    author: dreaMWeapon

    One more perfect LP from this awesome band. It give me the will to live. Tanx.

  • GOOD BUT NOT THE BEST
    author: smkplay

    Ok Iris is an awesome band. That said, this CD just didn't do it for me like the last couple. Sure it has good songs but nothing awesome. I have only listened to it 3 times and it is slowly growing on me however like I said it doesn't strike me as great.

  • I agree with Travis
    author: Erica Palmer

    Wrath is not nearly as good as Awakening, IMHO, but if I had not listened to Awakening I'm sure I'd love it 100% without reservation! Anything by Iris kicks you-know-what anyway, so who's going to really complain?

  • Excellent!
    author: Kara

    Iris gets better and better with each new album. Wrath is wonderful!

  • I only have known Iris since last May & I was totally in love with their music since then. Their new album is....SIMPLY THE BEST!!!! I have nuthing to complain about. :-)

  • I'm new to IRIS!
    author: Wyatt

    I just got some IRIS stuff a month ago, and I'm a big fan from now on! This album is is great and they played live in Seattle and had to see them live. bring on the remixes!

  • simply great!!!!!
    author: pete russo

    i've been a fan since day one. as a club dj, i've been playing tracks from their albums for years. This disc is a must have.

  • IRIS fans will love this!
    author: Daniel

    This is a great cd. Fans of Iris will not be disappointed. I've been a long time fan and find that I still crank "Disconnect" all the way up. I tend to prefer "Wrath" over "Awakening". Some will gawk at the guitars, but the Iris sound still permeates every song on this cd. If you like Iris, you will not be disappointed.

  • Not as good as Awakening, but definetly worth buying
    author: Travis Owens aka Rhelic

    I'll have to admit, initially I did not like this CD but it's because my tastes were tainted by their previous release "Awakening" which I considered to be the best synth pop CD of all time. Which was a high energy CD. This is a whole different ball of wax, the songs are somewhat on the softer side (although they still have guitars) and the lyrics are a bit more in the personal side. It took me about 4 good listens before I could look past my biased expectations and accept Wrath for what it is, possibly the best synth pop release of 2005. Yet again Andrew Sega is still with Iris turning what would be good songs into a work of synth pop magic. As far as I'm concerned, Iris wouldn't be Iris without Andrew. He is credited with the synth work, guitars and production. Many of the songs weave a seductive web of tranquility and ambiance with the strong syntho beats Andrew is known for. Despite what I said above, this CD does have it's share of stronger high energy songs and they are very good, even if they don't totally reach the heights that of Awakening. Overall I'd give this CD 4 1/2 stars when compared to Awakening but on it's own, it's 5 star material, if you like synth pop, this is one of those MUST BUY albums. And while you're at it, please also check out Iris's previous release Awakening.

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