Review Summary: An Isle Ate Her deliver a frantic onslaught of technical grind/mathcore skullfuckery that demonstrates an impressive homage to their obvious influences.
We have all grown familiar with bands that indulge in(and often overdo) technical wankery, jazz-inspired interludes, and atypical song structures, and An Isle Ate Her are not an exception to the aforementioned description. Hailing from Atlanta, an extremely vast and diverse musical breeding ground, An Isle Ate Her have slowly been building up a rabid fanbase, and for obvious reasons. The only way to truly describe the music contained in this 13 minute EP is by imagining yourself in the midst of a tornado within the range of a 4-5 on the Fujita scale of intensity.
The first thing you will notice about the music will more than likely be the savage and imaginably throat shredding vocals of Chaz Bell. Fans of the genre will not be turned off, as his vocal approach is the path taken by a majority of the frontmen of the genre. There are two other familiarities he demonstrates within his approach. The first being a low pig squeal-esque growl and the second being a soft whimper commonly found in pre-Worse Than Alone era The Number Twelve Looks Like You. While the pros outweigh the cons in Chaz's vocal approach, there is one major flaw: a little too often the vocals sound completely void of any real planning within the music and come out as sounding randomly and unthoughtfully placed.
The actual instrumentation is nothing new or revolutionary within the grindcore/mathcore genre, but it is executed well enough that it does not come off as irksome or as a knockoff of their contemporaries. A typical feature of the genre is a frantic guitar approach which seems lacking in structure but honestly demonstrates a higher level of comprehension of theory and song structure. Guitarist Collin Hutchinson executes his abilities as a songwriter in a way that makes An Isle Ate Her seem less like an amateur act trying to get their foot in the door and more like a force to be reckoned with. Drummer Matt Cooper makes his presence known behind the guitar work and vocalization with his well placed speedy double bass and spastic blasting. Again, fans of the genre are all too familiar with this and will find comfort in his abilities.
While An Isle Ate Her are still a band whose name has yet to become popular, even among elitists of the grindcore/mathcore genre, they have shown that they are fully capable of turning heads and captivating listeners with an impressive first release. The music is a little rough around the edges, but an educated listener will have no problem in finding a few if not many elements of their take on the genre to enjoy.
