Isole - Born From Shadows
Napalm Records
Doom Metal
7 songs (55:34)
Release year: 2011
Isole, Napalm Records
Reviewed by Thomas

Isole is a band that needs no introduction in the doom metal universe. After a couple of gold standard releases, for me, 09’s Silent Ruins wasn’t close to challenging the brilliant Bliss of Soltitude and the just as great Throne of the Void. 2011, saw Isole returning once again with Born From Shadows, an opus that for some reason has received mixed reviews across the web. Some have stated that this was a return to form, while others claimed that this consisted of mainly filler material. Obviously those of the latter opinion, tends to worship Silent Ruins. Obviously I wasn’t a big fan of that one, which led to unjust suppressed enthusiasm about this one. Born From Shadows are however covered by glimmering strokes of genius, and it’s safe to say that whoever decided to slam this album didn’t listen properly.

The bells of doom are tolling once again as devastating opener The Lake marches upon unsuspecting masses with massive, slow and devouring riffs. It picks up pace about midway through (never exactly speeding though) and adds some vicious growls for good measure before easing out again, providing nice variety for those of you who tend to find doom a bit tiresome. Every track doesn’t however follow that specific formula, and Black Hours sounds, with every blast, like a countdown to a hellish end of days. However good the opening duo is, they never come close to the title-track and the follow-up Come With Me. Born From Shadows, huge and powerful, quaking the earth, stirs the oceans into chaos. The riffs are fairly simple, slow and churning, but the excellent, occasionally blazing drum-work by Jonas Lindström adds a whole new dimension and the song as a whole may come off as a bit Opeth-y (back when Opeth played cool music, mind). Come With Me speeds things up a bit, the riffs are packed with meat and the occasional “breakdown” which sounds great coupled with majestic vocal work. In other words this album sounds like a compelling mix of earlier My Dying Bride, Lamentations-era Solstice and a hint of Solitude Aeternus, and the constant flow of depressive, riveting songs is overwhelmingly large and monumental.

Many suggests doom metal to be boring, but fantastic vocal work, excellent riffs and massive rhythm-work will drag you down through the gloomy, sad soundscapes to your definite ruin. Isole do however deliver soothing as well as crushing riffs. They will knock you out from the very first stroke, but songs like the stunning, stomping closer When All is Black will calm every symptom of the clinical depression this will inflict. The occasional calmness to vocals and guitars calms the screaming voices in your head and is what makes Isole unique. This is neither Throne of the Void nor Bliss of Soltitude in terms of quality but I don’t have any particular beefs with this disc. It stands up and delivers quality doom metal that will rip your soul to shreds. Listen and weep motherfuckers.

Killing Songs :
All, but Born From Shadows and Come With Me stands out.
Thomas quoted 85 / 100
Other albums by Isole that we have reviewed:
Isole - Silent Ruins reviewed by Pete and quoted 90 / 100
Isole - Bliss of Solitude reviewed by Adam and quoted 86 / 100
Isole - Forevermore reviewed by Dee and quoted 85 / 100
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