Sweden’s Isole play a stellar brand of Epic Doom Metal akin to the likes of Candlemass, Revelation & early Solitude Aeturnus. Yeah, once again I find it best to get right to the point. This new release finds the band at, I believe, it’s pinnacle of monolithic mastery. One will find loads of booming, Doom-filled guitars, ambient, melodic vocal passages and tempos guaranteed to turn any good mood to one of grief and loneliness.

“From The Dark” opens the album with melancholic granduer. The melodic guitar lines are played like violins, the church organ gives a cavernous atmosphere and the overall vibe is one of expansive emptiness and solitude…massive guitar riffing and superb drumming as well. The clean vocals are both serene and soaring and are sparsley counteracted with rich death growls to a fine result. “Hollow Shrine” is another highlight with a nice, stomping intro complete with double-kick passages and keyboards before delving into luxurious doominess. Here, once again, the clean vocals are superb…very melodic and pure, carrying a ghostly kind of air…almost like you’d hear them off in the distance in some empty, fog-laden field. The acoustic guitar/vocal intro to “Soulscarred” is painfully beauitful…then the band comes in pounding like a march upon the senses…something’s coming and it’s bringing bitter hopelessness with it. The nearly 12-minute “Dark Clouds” truly is a journey of bombastic, Doom-filled proportions. After some great, swirling guitar harmonies on the intro, we’re abandoned into desolation when the vocals and slow tempos kick in. There is some great lead work all throughout this one and something almost choral about much of the vocal delivery (here and on much of the album as well).

Without going into all seven tracks in detail, suffice it to say that this will no doubt be atop many a fan’s Best Doom Metal of 2009 lists. The production is clean, the sound is huge and the vibe is, well, pure Doom. This is as good as it gets, folks…connoisseurs of the genre have another reason to rejoice in the gloom. Pick it up and hear how it’s done.

[Visit the band's website]

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