Austere / Isolation - Bleak (CD)

Bleak is the adjective chosen by the two entities to name their collaboration. You could not have thought of a more appropriate term to describe the audial content of this masterpiece.

After a fantastic debut album, Australian AUSTERE contributes three excellent tracks to the split cd with an even stronger emphasis on the desperate side of their art.

On the other hand, ISOLATION, after three convincing demotapes, contributes three tracks as well and evolves towards something more pure than ever before. The German band has now gained a complete identity of their own through what could be called intimist blackened doom metal with scarce clear voices, e-bow, and remnants of their previous recordings' harsh vocals. A very interesting evolution for a band which denies stagnation.