Isole – Born from Shadows (2011)

As you probably know, we are huge Doom Metal fans, so every time a new release comes our way we prepare ourselves to fully enjoy one of our favorite genres in Metal. “Born from Shadows” marks the return of Isole after two years since releasing “Silent Ruins”. In this release the band finally fully convinces us by mixing slow and painful sections with a few speed-ups and harsh screams, a bit like My Dying Bride did in their past.

The repetitive and tuned low riffing is a must, and on “Born from Shadows” it is perfectly developed. With the opener “The Lake”, Isole quickly delivers dominating riffs paired with the epic vocals that we are not quite so fond, but in this release the band pulls them off perfectly. The speed up and harsh vocals section in this track is very nicely timed and works wonders to keep the song going for the seven minutes it lasts.

In a slower fashion we have “Black Hours”, this song has a bit of an old-school Psychedelic edge. However, the drums are very well recorded and show even the sightless details to perfection. “Born from Shadows” is a bit more aggressive than the first songs and also features a near-Black Metal section on it as well as very nice instrumental passages. This song by far is our favorite due to the level of dynamism the band achieves on it (and the female vocals as well).

“My Angel” marks the next standout song of this release, the soaring epic vocals (like Candlemass, While Heaven Wept, etc), make this track a very emotional and exciting piece. More importantly, allowing the album to keep the ‘up and down’ flow that most Doom Metal releases feature. Followed up by “Condemned” the band goes into the Death/Doom territory for a while and we love it. The fade out at the end of this release in the track “When All is Back” nicely took us back in time when other bands used to do this more often, providing a nice closure to an excellent release.

If you are a Doom Metal fan, Isole’s “Born from Shadows” will not disappoint you in one bit. The band has been just tweaking their sound since their “Bliss of Solitude” album, allowing it to grow and constantly improve over time. The guitar work is painfully excellent and the vocals are just magic to our ears after a few listens and opening our minds a bit. Be sure to catch this release when it comes out since it can’t get much better than this in terms of traditional Doom Metal in 2011.

Release: October 25th, 2011

Country: Sweden