Review Summary: A brief glimpse into what the future of post-metal could be.
Isthmus are a strange beast. Take one listen to “On Curl Of Sand” and you’ll realise that these guys aren’t your usual post-metal act, sure, some of the ideas might seem familiar to other bands, but their execution is anything but. I mean, take for example the gorgeous guitar runs and confusing time signatures that are used on many of the tracks for an example on how these guys like to surprise and confuse you at every turn. “Land Bridge” is a very technical and virtuoso effort from the start, and it is this unrelenting tide of odd patterns and funky riffs that differentiates the band from hundreds of other post-metal groups who end up sounding the same as each other. Despite all of this though, “Land Bridge” is still an album that can be enjoyed by any sort of Post-metal fan, thanks to the sheer professionalism and excellent song writing skills the band have to offer, it’s not your usual Post-metal, no, it’s something completely different, but all those Isis and Neurosis fans should still eat this up, it’s too damn good to dislike.
Early on and at the heart of this album is the three piece “Perihelion” (try saying that after having a few), only part II features any vocals, with part I and III being short but stunning instrumentals. Placed early in the album, the “Perihelion” saga showcases the best of Isthmus’s talents early on, with fantastic arpeggios and technical riffs from the guitarists coming hard and fast at every turn. While part II slows down the trilogy slightly with the guitars slowing down to let the almost robotic screamed vocals have a chance to keep up, the two instrumentals do fantastic in keeping a fast exhilarating pace, something unusual for this kind of genre. Trust me, when the harmonized riffs hit you at a minute in on part III, you won’t know what day it is, they’re so intense it’s unreal, but still of course very melodic and atmospheric, keeping the trademarks of the genre just in tact when you think that Isthmus might just be playing something else but Post-metal.
After that trilogy, you come to realise that it is this constant contrast between typical Post-metal atmosphere and style with the technical and exciting playing of the band that makes this album so fascinating. While you will still get ambient build ups (beginning of “Perihelion II”, for example) they are not as frequently used as other, more typical Post-metal acts, and that makes them all the more special. The band don’t brood about unnecessarily in an effort to create atmosphere, it’s already just there, they don’t take their time to try and make the aggressive moments more dramatic, they don’t need to be. Although very understated, Isthmus have a unique grasp on how to create great songs. They know where vocals are appropriate (for they are very sparse in the album), they know when to throw in a highly technical virtuoso moment, they know when to slow down for just a moment. All in all, “Land Bridge” comes off as an effort from a band that are simply beyond their age and time, the production is practically perfect, there is not a note out of place; “Land Bridge” is so excellently focused and intent upon it’s purpose that it comes off all the more surprising that they’ve still managed to sound so unique and progressive from the start.
“Land Bridge” is not a vocally driven album at all, which helps make the use of ethereal singing and the mysterious undecipherable screaming all the more effective at building the claustrophobic atmosphere. The album is much more dependant on its guitars and bass than anything else, with the aforementioned technicality of the album playing a key role in everything that happens, the best examples of this are the instrumentals in the album. All five of them. Isthmus actually only have vocals on half of their tracks on “Land Bridge”, and even on the ones that do, they sometimes only make brief appearances. This self assured belief in their own ability that they don’t need to overuse the vocals makes Isthmus’s atmosphere all the more enriching, as you are free to drown in the splendor of it all without needing to pay attention to the vocals. It’s a unique approach that might turn some off (even when they come in, the vocals aren’t exactly typical) but for those that can enjoy it for what it is will find it all the more fascinating.
Isthmus don’t like to overstate themselves, none of the songs stray long over six minutes, and furthermore none of them waste time with pretentious build up moments or over-extended passages. For the last ten minutes of the album, there are no vocals at all; with the last song being an untitled ambient piece and the one before it being another spellbinding instrumental. In “Land Bridge”, Isthmus have created one of the most technical and atmospheric Post-metal albums of the year, this is an album that almost feels ahead of it’s time, like a brief glimpse into what the future of Post-metal could be. Or, in other terms, it’s an evolution of Post-metal that was never really expected; a perfect and ironic jolt of life for a genre that prides itself on being unique in the first place. For anyone who’s looking for something completely different from the rest your typical post-metal, you can’t go wrong with Isthmus.
