Fans of My Dying Bride, Cathedral, Paradise Lost, Candlemass, and Solitude Aeturnus would be well advised to pick up the latest release Bliss of Solitude from Swedish doomsters Isole. Following hot on the heels of 2006's Throne of Void, Isole now find themselves on Napalm Records for this latest release, which features seven songs of epic, haunting, and melodic doom metal. Bliss of Solitude was produced by the band themselves, and they did a fine job, as the main things you look for on a doom record, huge guitars, pounding drums, atmosphere, and effective vocals, all come into play and sound great. Lead and backing vocals are handled by the two guitar players, Daniel & Crister, and for the most part they utilize clean and soft spoken singing, but there are occasional growls to be heard as well. All of the tunes clock in over the 6-minute mark, allowing the band to stretch out and lay down plenty of bombastic riffage and haunting atmosphere, which they do so well on tracks like "From Clouded Sky", the crushing title track, "By Blood", and the 11-minute epic "Shadowstone". The only number here with any sort of gallop is the raging "Aska", a faster paced song that shows that the band can also tackle more thrashier material, and quite frankly I'd like to hear more of this from Isole. Too much of Bliss of Solitude seems stuck in a mire of all-too similar isolation and solitude, and while this is very solid and enjoyable stuff, at just under an hour you kind of get that 'been there heard that' feel from track to track, which is not so much a fault of Isole as the genre in general. Still, good stuff overall that has a lot to recommend to doom lovers of all ages.
Track Listing
1. By Blood
2. From Clouded Sky
3. Imprisoned In Sorrow
4. Bliss Of Solitude
5. Aska
6. Dying
7. Shadowstone
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