This Swedish doom-metal band was formed under the name Forlorn in the early 90’s. Under that name they released a couple of demos. It wasn't until the Swedish doom label I Hate Records approached them in 2003, that they changed their name into Isole. In the years 2005/2006 they released several recordings on this label. After that, Napalm Records got interested and signed the band. This is the band's second full length album on Napalm Records.

This album tells an apocalyptic, eerie tale of a man that wakes up without any recollection of how the world came to its end. In every song that follows, he recollects his thoughts and these details and memories will lead to a devastating conclusion. The ideal story to make a dark, gloomy and melancholic soundtrack too!

The album opens with a heavy but melodic song called ‘From the Dark’. Straight away this song makes clear that Isole leans a lot to the more ‘traditional’ side of doom-metal like Grand Magus and Candlemass. I’m not always fond of that kind of doom-metal, mostly due the terrible high-pitched vocals. Luckily Isole combines traditional vocals with screams and even an occasional grunt. Although the traditional vocals take up most of the tracks on this record, they are not sung in an annoying way.

Musically this band is heading down the same path as bands like Krux, Grand Magus and Solitude Aeturnus. At times they sound a bit more up-tempo and sometimes delicately played keyboards sound in the background. The overall sound on this album is well produced and brings across a dark atmosphere, melancholy and utter despair pretty well.

In the middle of the album, it starts to grow on me more and more, with a couple of really strong tracks. Especially the song ‘Nightfall’ is absolutely brilliant with an up-tempo riff in it that ends in slow, epic and melancholically structured chaos.

If you are into the more traditional kind of doom-metal, you should definitely check out this band, you won’t be disappointed. If you are just curious to what a traditional doom-metal sounds like, this is an ideal album to start with!