{"id":4366,"date":"2012-01-06T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T00:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=4366"},"modified":"2012-02-21T19:35:52","modified_gmt":"2012-02-21T19:35:52","slug":"feature-isole-01-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-isole-01-12\/","title":{"rendered":"ISOLE – When All Is Black (January 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISOLE – When All Is Black<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nJanuary 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Isole (l-r): Henrik Lindenmo, Crister Olsson, Daniel Bryntse and Jonas Lindstr\u00f6m<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Cut at the group\u2019s own Apocalypse Studio, Born From Shadows<\/em> \u2013 the fifth studio full-length from Swedish doom metal outfit Isole \u2013 was recorded once for pre-production purposes, listened to for several months, and subsequently recorded again. Discussions were made about pre-recording fourth album Silent Ruins<\/em>, but there wasn\u2019t enough time to do so due to a deadline. However, Born From Shadows<\/em> wasn\u2019t marred by any deadlines. \u201cA lot of ideas came really early for Born From Shadows<\/em>,\u201d reveals Crister Olsson, guitarist, backing vocalist, and co-founder of Isole. \u201cWe had all the time in the world, so we took our time with the album. That isn\u2019t usual for us, but it felt good. The results were really good in my opinion, and we got the vocals better because it\u2019s easier when you have the songs and the lyrics ready. We recorded the album ourselves again, and this is the fourth album in a row that we recorded ourselves. It was convenient to do it ourselves, but I think it could be a good thing to get into another studio next time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mostly financial issues I guess; we are playing true metal, and spending a lot of money out. We do a decent sound which is actually a kind of good sound, a sound which would cost a lot of money to get from a professional. To look for the sound you want you\u2019d have to go to a really expensive studio, but to get the sound that we want we record and mix for free at my home studio. We\u2019re only playing with our own spare time. We want to record with Jens Bogren whose sound we really like, but that would cost tens of thousands of Euros. It\u2019s a big difference; even though that might not seem like a lot of money, the band hasn\u2019t got that kind of money. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll spend a lot more out trying to get the perfect sound. We\u2019ll still play the same music, we\u2019ll still play metal. We get better all the time, and every album is sounding better and better every time. We bought some new microphones and we\u2019re buying new stuff for the studio all the time, so it\u2019s getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jens Bogren (Katatonia \/ Enslaved) mastered Born From Shadows<\/em>. \u201cI really like the sound that Jens Bogren achieves, like with Opeth for example,\u201d the axeman enthuses. \u201cIt\u2019s a really good sound overall; a really good guitar sound, and also a really good drum sound as well. We\u2019ve always produced ourselves, but it\u2019s hard because we\u2019re not professionals in terms of sound (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

A slightly bigger gap took place between the respective issues of Silent Ruins<\/em> and Born From Shadows<\/em>, Isole performing more live shows. \u201cIf you compare when we released Bliss Of Solitude<\/em> to when we released Silent Ruins<\/em>, there was only a gap of 13 months and after Silent Ruins<\/em> we did a lot of shows,\u201d Crister notes. \u201cWe focused more on live things, and that\u2019s why we choose to play music I guess. Being on the stage is the fun part (laughs), but you have to release an album once in awhile. Two years is good; I think we released albums too frequently in the beginning, so I think we will wait for up to two years with the next album as well. It\u2019s good to have space.\u201d<\/p>\n

The membership status of bassist and co-founder Henrik Lindenmo seems to be cloudy. \u201cHenrik is kind of a passive member of Isole,\u201d the co-founder surmises. \u201cHe will not share the stage with us anymore, but he wants to continue writing lyrics. He wants to continue to play, but he doesn\u2019t want to play live shows. We will have another bassist; he\u2019s called Jimmy Mattsson from Loch Vostok, another Swedish band. He lives in the same city, and he plays in local, lesser known bands. We don\u2019t live in a really big city; all the hard rock musicians know each other, and he\u2019s a really good bassist. We\u2019re trying him out, and he\u2019ll travel across Europe and do some live shows with us during 2012. Only time will tell \u2013 it\u2019s too early to say. We\u2019ve been really honest with him and said that Henrik is still in the band, but we need someone to play live with us. I can\u2019t really say if he\u2019s a proper member of Isole, actually. I don\u2019t know. He\u2019s been at two rehearsals, so he\u2019s really new. It\u2019s very hard to say. We\u2019ll see what happens in the future, and how we work together. We know he\u2019s a nice guy, but he hasn\u2019t been onstage with us before and hasn\u2019t been on a long trip with us, so we don\u2019t really know how we\u2019ll work together. He likes to go out and play though, so it\u2019s a good arrangement for the both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queried as to why Henrik cannot perform at live shows, Crister diplomatically responds \u201cYou\u2019ll have to ask Henrik. He doesn\u2019t want people knowing, but this isn\u2019t anything between us and him. There\u2019s no hard feelings; we\u2019re friends and he\u2019s still working with us, but he doesn\u2019t want to do live shows anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Isole (l-r): Jonas Lindstr\u00f6m, Crister Olsson, Henrik Lindenmo and Daniel Bryntse<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Whether Henrik is still a studio member of Isole is an uncertainty. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d the backing vocalist admits. \u201cIt\u2019s too early to say. He was with us recording Born From Shadows<\/em>, but I can\u2019t really say for the next album which\u2019ll be released in two years from now or something like that. It\u2019s really hard to say. He didn\u2019t play with us last year for live appearances either, but just for the recording of the album. We used another bassist last year \u2013 Kristofer (Elemyr of Undivine) was his name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Title cut \u2018Born From Shadows\u2019 continues a story which began on March 2005 debut Forevermore<\/em> (I Hate) courtesy of the composition \u2018Moonstone\u2019, and resurfaced through \u2018Shadowstone\u2019 on third album Bliss Of Solitude<\/em> (January 2008, Napalm Records). \u201c\u2018Moonstone\u2019 wasn\u2019t meant to be a trilogy from the start,\u201d Crister stresses. \u201c\u2018Moonstone\u2019 was an individual song back then; it was actually written in 1993, and I released it on demo tape (Waves Of Sorrow<\/em>, recorded as Forlorn) in 1994. That\u2019s a fantasy story written back which was inspired by an old computer game from the 80s. Daniel (Bryntse, vocals) wrote the lyrics for \u2018Moonstone\u2019 and then a decade later Henrik wanted to continue the story in some way, so he wrote the opposite. \u2018Moonstone\u2019 is this power of God and life, so Henrik wrote \u2018Shadowstone\u2019 which is about different forces. The opposite was \u2018Shadowstone\u2019, and that was inspired by a series of books written by a Russian author called Nick Perumov. In the books I think it\u2019s two swords that are the opposite though. It wasn\u2019t meant to be a trilogy back on Bliss Of Solitude<\/em> either, but when we were out touring the Silent Ruins<\/em> album with long nights in the van Henrik started to talk about maybe doing something about this, and writing a conclusion where the two stones came together. He started thinking about it and wrote a continuation where the end of the world will come and the two great opposites will collide, so it\u2019s kind of a fantasy story. The first part is Daniel and the two last parts are Henrik, so it\u2019s hard for me to say what happened in their heads. It\u2019s not a concept album, Born From Shadows<\/em> \u2013 it\u2019s just the title track. If I were to mention something about the album cover, to have the moon with the stone was meant to reflect the trilogy. They come together, and in the middle there\u2019s the face of death. Death comes when the stones unite. The seven symbols surround it, and symbolise the seven tracks on the album.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazilian artist Gustavo Sazes (Arch Enemy \/ Firewind \/ God Forbid \/ Manowar) designed the cover artwork for Born From Shadows<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with Gustavo before, and we discussed the concept together,\u201d the guitarist shares. \u201cHe did the Silent Ruins<\/em> cover artwork as well, and we just shared our ideas. We thought of the album cover concept together, but he\u2019s the one making the covers because I don\u2019t have the skills myself. We had a close co-operation because I wanted to be in charge in some way (laughs). I\u2019m kind of a control freak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the album\u2019s tracks, Crister penned lyrics for \u2018The Lake\u2019, \u2018My Angel\u2019, and \u2018Condemned\u2019. \u201c\u2018The Lake\u2019 is actually my autobiography; it\u2019s my life, it\u2019s very personal, and to me it means a lot,\u201d he confesses. \u201cIt\u2019s simply the story of my life so far; it\u2019s about my past, where I came from, and my fears and my feelings. The lake is from my youth. I also often write lyrics in such a way. It\u2019s very easy to comprehend everything I mean in that song, but if anyone else reads the lyrics they can get their own stories out of it. \u2018My Angel\u2019 is actually about my first born, so I wrote a song about them being an angel. It\u2019s personal as well, and was a special turning point in my life. On the other hand, \u2018Condemned\u2019 is inspired by a movie I watched called The Stoning Of Soraya M.<\/em> (2008). It\u2019s a movie where a girl is accused of cheating on her husband in the Middle East, but she didn\u2019t. The woman was just stoned to death. There are such situations for women, even today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fatherhood has inevitably changed the axeman\u2019s life perspective. \u201cI\u2019m a parent, and it\u2019s a kind of salvation I guess,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cIn many ways it\u2019s cleansing, and my priorities are no longer the same. My family comes first. You experience a love that you can\u2019t really imagine by becoming a parent, so it\u2019s a huge thing in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
Crister Olsson<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Lead vocalist Daniel Bryntse authored the lyrics to \u2018When All Is Black\u2019.\u201d \u201c\u2018When All Is Black\u2019 is just shorter, and is actually an old song,\u201d Crister clarifies. \u201cDaniel doesn\u2019t write lyrics anymore, and it\u2019s been a long time since he wrote lyrics. We used this old song because we thought it was a really fitting end, kind of a black hole at the end of the album.\u201d<\/p>\n

The possibility of re-recording old tunes in the future is seemingly remote. \u201cThe whole of the first album is made up of songs from the 90s,\u201d the co-founder muses. \u201cWe used one or two songs on every album since then, but I didn\u2019t think we would use any old songs on Born From Shadows<\/em>. This song really fitted though, and that\u2019s why we chose to re-record it. I believe in writing new material; we\u2019re more mature as composers and songwriters now. The new songs are better, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

A darker tone is prevalent on Born From Shadows<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s darker, and more death metal and black metal,\u201d Crister feels. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t used any black metal before, but all of us listen to black metal these days. It\u2019s not something new for us to listen to, but it\u2019s new for Isole maybe. Just a small part in the title track there\u2019s black metal chords, but maybe there\u2019ll be more in the future. I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s hard to say, but I think we are going into harsher areas. It feels like that right now, but it\u2019s really hard to say. I like aggressive and psychedelic music myself. I think we get a good balance; Daniel is maybe dragging us into death metal areas a bit, and Jonas into black metal maybe. I try to keep the progressive parts. We veer the band in different directions, and that maybe makes us sound the way we do. We continue on the path that we started with on Silent Ruins<\/em> with the more progressive parts, and it was a chance to further develop that. I think it\u2019s more varied, but darker. There was some light at the end of the tunnel on Silent Ruins<\/em>, but Born From Shadows<\/em> is dark. I like dark, melancholic melodies. They actually make me feel good. It\u2019s strange (laughs). I think they\u2019re beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous album Silent Ruins<\/em> featured an as yet unfinished tale. \u201cThe first part is about a man who wakes up in a cold, lonely, dark place with no memories at all, and throughout the album his memory is coming back more and more,\u201d the backing vocalist recalls. \u201cHe\u2019s in a totally desolate place, and wants to find anyone who\u2019s living. It\u2019s like you see in a lot of movies; he\u2019s alone, the last man standing. Everyone is gone. What has happened, and who is he? Jesus? We\u2019re hoping to do the second part \u2013 there\u2019s supposed to be two albums to this story. It could\u2019ve been our fifth album. Henrik is the author of the story, but he hasn\u2019t been with us this past year. He agreed to continue working with us, so hopefully the sixth album will be Silent Ruins Part Two<\/em>. He said he would finish the story someday, so hopefully it isn\u2019t too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born From Shadows<\/em> was released in North America on October 25th, 2011 and subsequently in Europe on the 28th, all through Napalm Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in January 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISOLE – When All Is Black Anthony Morgan January 2012 Isole (l-r): Henrik Lindenmo, Crister Olsson, Daniel Bryntse and Jonas Lindstr\u00f6m Cut at the group\u2019s own Apocalypse Studio, Born From Shadows \u2013 the fifth studio full-length from Swedish doom metal outfit Isole \u2013 was recorded once for pre-production purposes, listened to for several months, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,233],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-isole"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4366"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4382,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4366\/revisions\/4382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}