Wounds of Desolation Review

Band	Isolert
Album	Wounds of Desolation
Type	Album (Studio full-length)
Released	September 13, 2024
Genres	Black Metal
Labels	Non Serviam Records

Reviewer :  prixmypouts         Rating :  90 / 100

Isolert from Volos Greece reach this exact point in their recording career: their pivotal third full length. At the same time, they are just a breath away from closing their first 10-year life cycle (in 2025). There are, of course, some basic characteristics and facts on their way to " Wounds of Desolation" , which we are obliged to understand and take seriously, in order to realize that at this very moment and with this very specific release, black metal history is being written !

There is a key element in the sound of this band which follows them from that first “Isolated Soul” demo of 2015 and which in “Wounds of Desolation” is the ultimate expression of maturity (identifying gradually and evolving each of their releases): Isolert with absolute awareness, they create their music in the context of a shadow, standing between two worlds. On the one hand, the fabric of the second 90's black metal wave and on the other, the modernist upsurge that dominated Europe in the 00's, opening the gap and reaching black metal as an idiom - regardless of the stylistic direction - even more at the ends. From the wonder of “De Mysteriis”, to the discordant obsessions of Deathspell Omega and the sonic drama of bands like Gaerea , Isolert following their own path craft a masterpiece.

They insist on pompous, rough riffing as a base, putting razors in the corners of the tracks. Of course, they will choose the railway formula of development in terms of their guitar themes, when they want to give space to the elegiac chant of rage set up by the vocals, demanding and taking a dominant role as in an Ancient Tragedy.

In their more hypochthonic riffing that usually coexists with more cavernous growls or a vocal approach of detached despair, Isolert put their icy face forward. They go into the process of fragmenting their own melodies and set up these glass themes - which have Manes ' blessings anyway - leading the listener even into a state of momentary anxiety. They knife the harmony just enough to turn in the very next second to a redemptive theme of pure darkness.

Let's not forget, since the conversation brings it up, that essentially Isolert with a few more courageous ones (see Human Serpent) established the above elements as a new path in the Greek black metal scene of the 10's and now they are simply evolving them.

The most mature and complete album of Isolert is a fact. The above is not only about their source of inspiration or talent. It's mainly about the diversity of the material and the way the band has set up and developed their tracks with each individual element being at the absolute right point in each composition.

All of the above will not be noticed during the first listens, because the album will take you like a storm and tear you to pieces. You as a listener have to master it, make it your property and then you will understand that we are dealing with real extreme art here.

The disc's exemplary production must be highlighted as the ultimate strong card here. Don't ruin your listening experience by listening to it on a portable device. Let it play on headphones or speakers. Give a base to the dynamics of the drums, the clarity of the guitar and the incredible volume of the material.

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