Isolirion – Outer Heaven Review

As soon, as the listener presses that button, the opening piece, Outer Heaven, greets the listener with a complex-thrash instrumental intro, which is followed by crushing growls and clean singing.

As the listener continues with the second piece, The Era of Madness, and the fourteen remaining songs, Isolirion takes the listener on a concept journey. It delves into the dark and complex facets of the human experience, weaving together themes of disillusionment, vengeance, inner struggle, and the inescapable presence of death. The album paints a bleak but profound picture of a world on the brink of madness, where individuals are forced to confront their deepest fears, betrayals, and the oppressive forces that shape their existence.

Outer Heaven is a fruit of art release, with a fifty-minute play featuring a total of sixteen songs. The unique song structure includes the first six songs and the eighth song, which offer listeners intricate and progressive/technical thrash metal compositions. In contrast, the seventh song and the remaining eight pieces are instrumental. It’s interesting to note that the instrumental tracks from nine to the closing piece are titled “Studio 1-8,” adding an intriguing element to the play.

Let’s bring our attention to the first half of the album, Outer Heaven. This first half provides the listener’s ears with this mid-pace and straightforward technical musical soundscape with a 70s progressive rock sensation and thrash/groove metal edge, drawing inspiration from Quorthon of Bathory. The latter half of the release provides the listener with instrumental compositions. I’m unsure whether these instrumentals add something to the album or not. Now this depends on the listener, these pieces are beautiful -yet there is a feeling of dread and coldest to the songs as well, as if one is being touched by death himself.

At the same time, Outer Heaven has some fruit of art moments with its diverse musical styles, including experimental compositions in the instrumental, songwriting/lyrics, and vocals. The devilmanship within the walls of Outer Heaven (for the release) comprises Claudio Evangelista on guitar and Luca Gerbino on vocals on tracks one and two. Providing technical fretboard guitar work, deep-aggressive growls and clean singing. The remaining songs are carried by the formidable skills of sole member Roberto Merlo, whose driving drum work, intricate guitar compositions, and compelling blend of progressive and intense vocals offer a diverse and captivating listening experience.

The production within the walls of the music is executed with perfection, the sound quality can’t be faulted with its sound quality. While the album sound and composition do not stick to one composition path, each piece is different, keeping the listener engaged and hooked with its various tempos, moods, vocal ranges, clean atmospheric/acoustic, technical/progressive instrumental composition and music score.