ISOLE - Throne Of Void / CD

Classic Isole album available on CD again! Comes with “The Beyond” EP as bonustracks!

However, there are some Doom bands that break this mold. Older My Dying Bride, newer Candlemass and some Cathedral are quite a bit more listenable; they have interesting song patterns and melodies, and untouchable vocals in places. Magnificent. Isole have a name that didn’t really grab me, so I didn’t track this down until overwhelming word of mouth made me change my mind. Incredible that this is only their sophomore effort, though this band has been together in one form or another since 1991. Throne of Void is so good it’s just scary, as so many bands try for years to produce an album that’s only half this good. Bands like Forsaken and Orodruin, much as I love them, have never produced a disc this good. This is just a Doom classic, no question or argument allowed.

If one had to compare Isole on this album with one band it would have to be Solstice, the UK’s greatest Doom band. “Throne of Void” reminds the Solstice classic “Lamentations”, only crushingly heavy and with better vocals. One would even have to give Isole a slight edge in songwriting overall. The sound, the riffs, everything here is first-rate, and the atmosphere is magisterial and grandly bleak. This is a big album, with big songs and a big sound, but it never slips into self-indulgence or wastes time with interludes or throwaway tracks.

We cannot say enough good things about this album. Fans of classic Doom Metal should beg, steal, or kill to get their hands on this. If you love Doom Metal as much as we do, then there is no price too high to pay for this album that is destined to be spoken of in hushed tones of awe. “Throne of Void” is essential.

1. Autumn Leaves
2. Dreams
3. Demon Green
4. Throne of Void
5. Insomnia
6. Bleak
7. Life?
8. The Beyond (Bonustrack)
9. Beyond The Black II (Bonustrack)