Doom metal is probably one of the metal music subgenres which have the least popular appeal because of its emphasis on slow beats and expression of bleakness, melancholy, desperation, oppression and sadness rather than the typically aggressive self-empowering emotive aspects associated with most other types of metal music today. Nonetheless, doom metal has always had a solid foothold in the metal underground, and, ever since the release Black Sabbath's debut in 1970, many doom metal releases have seen the dim light of a cold winter's day. One of the newest additions to this corpus is Isole's mighty fifth album Born from Shadows.
Born from Shadows is probably best classified as traditional doom metal, which means heavy riffs and slow beats, but not so slow that there is no identifiable pulse to the music. One of the central features of Isole's style is the focus on melancholic and haunting melodies, which are primarily generated via the Rob Lowe-inspired lead vocals and the many guitar melodies that appear throughout the album.
As with the likes of Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus, there is a certain epic feel to the music on Born from Shadows which is primarily generated by the clean vocals (they are quasi-operatic and have a haunting quality to them, but do not reach the level of Rob Lowe's acrobatic style) and by the synth that appear in strategically sound places, as well as by the guitar harmonies. However, as a contrast to the grandiose epic sound, Isole also make use of elements from more extreme types of metal, such as the death growls that British doom bands introduced into doom metal in the 90s as well as black metal tremolo picking and blastbeating.
Slow and heavy, dark and melancholic, haunting and epic, Isole's Born from Shadows is the epitome of quality doom metal and should be ear-candy for fans of Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, While Heaven Wept, Procession, and My Dying Bride.
Track list:
1. The Lake
2. Black Hours
3. Born from Shadows
4. Come To Me
5. My Angel
6. Condemned
7. When All Is Black
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