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Released on November 28, 2014 via Cyclone Empire
Isole‘s The Calm Hunter is an album of variations. Situated somewhere in the middle of doom, thrash and epic metal, it gives off a somewhat pretentious sheen at first, but underneath its surface there is some fantastic music going on. In fact, for the most part, this is one of the finer metal releases of the year. It just has an annoying knack of getting too much at times which is a bit of a let down.
Maybe it’s because they like to throw everything into the mix at once. Take opening track ‘The Calm Hunter’, which is a fantastic piece of prog metal, all tempo changes, different vocal styles and interludes, you could be forgiven you were listening to different songs at times. It’s an intense opener and lays down its mark on the rest of the album which may be the issue too.
Some of the vocals take some getting used to but then that is an issue that can be thrown at any number of heavy bands. ‘Dead To Me’ starts off at a thunderous pace, all beautiful thrash licks and full on rawk if you wish, then the vocals begin their endless onslaught of bringing you down. Of course, we must not be critical as after all there is an element of epicness and that relies on a certain style.
Moving on as it is unfair to criticise this album for the most part, what we really have is an excellent slice of metal. ‘Into Oblivion’ may dull the senses a bit after the great opening, but further on we get the brilliant ‘Perdition’, which is Isole at their very best. It is a song like this that shows this band can be up their with the greats when they focus. There is a rather stunning bit as the intro of ‘Alone In Silence’ kicks in and you find yourself thrilling to the wonders of the album.
As a whole The Calm Hunter is a very good album and reveals more with extra plays. It is an album you find yourself returning too as there is so much variation in the riffs and music. The vocals can be looked at as a matter of taste and one persons critical perception can be another persons manna, that’s the way it works. For this reviewer they cast a maudlin feel over the music and tend to bring you down from the at times magnificent music. Nonetheless, highly recommended for fans of the heavier persuasion.
