Review by SzejkElRopa on August 2, 2026.

Most of the Greek black metal acts I have listened to were quite similar to one another, thanks to their ritualistic atmosphere. Especially, it was the case with two bands belonging to the Ωrder of Antinomianism circle - Insanity Cult and Sørgelig, whose style is extremely dark, captivating, and terrifying. To this day, I keep coming back to their newest releases (the only ones I have listened to, admittedly). Frankly, I expected the same with Isolert, because the lineup shares people with the aforementioned two bands, and because I got used to some very basic sort of Greek black metal sound. As it turned out, nothing could be further from the truth.

After the first listen, I was genuinely taken aback. The first thing that instantly comes to mind is that "Wounds Of Desolation" perfectly blends elements of sheer black metal fury, thrashy energy, and classical heavy metal melodicity, while adding a surprising emotional depth. The execution of it is close to being flawless, and there are many reasons why. The album starts with a short instrumental called 'The Downfall's Monologue', which perfectly works as an introduction. There is a melodic riff, a sudden speed-up, and a short thrashy interlude. Following that, 'The End Of Beauty' appears, and from the first seconds of it, the vocalist showcases his talent. He is bursting with aggression; he sounds as though he were tearing his throat apart; however, that's not a flaw at all, because his work is extremely powerful and works perfectly with the music. The same goes for the other vocalist and the drummer, who does something between a growl and a shout - despite the differences in techniques, these two are complementary to one another. One of the best tracks on the album is the shortest one - 'Flesh. Torn. Asunder!'. It lasts only three minutes, but is filled with pure hatred and emotion. The fast-paced drums make this song rapid, and the melodic riffs are extremely easy to commit to memory. This is arguably the best song on this album, because Isolert managed to pack so much into less than 180 seconds.

The remaining songs are no less impressive. 'Where Dreams Die' is mostly mid-paced, but not by any means worse than 'Flesh. Torn. Asunder!'. Led by a melodic riff, this song evokes the feeling of hopelessness, which is further developed in the album on songs like 'Herald Of Demise', which atmospherically leans into more emotional territories. The second big win for the Greeks comes at the end with the longest song - 'Reflections Of Nothingness'. The beginning of it introduces keyboards, which make the atmosphere terrifying and sepulchral. Maybe their sound isn't anything new or extraordinary, but connected with the music, it works. Following the opening, a melodic solo and spoken words can be heard, which later turn into faster and slower outbursts of emotion. It can be said that this track is a summary of everything that happened on the album before. It contains hatred, hopelessness, fleeting glimpses of light created by the melodies, which are instantly killed by terrifying howls appearing in the middle of the track. It's like a story about the fall of a man. This track has it all, and if one wants to know what to expect from this album but for some reason wants to save time, that's the best choice.

The guitarwork deserves particular praise, because for a black metal album it is extremely sophisticated. It ranges from heavy riffs which could be easily taken from thrash metal albums to melodic, even heavy metal-inspired. The latter ones appear in 'Children Of The Void' and 'Spewing Venomous Gloom', which both contain solos that are on the verge of being out of tune. Fortunately, it doesn't happen, yet Isolert was close to crossing the thin borderline of over-melodicity. Every riff is created so well that it's extremely memorable and varied. Rarely does it happen that there is a riff that is repeated throughout the whole song; the riffs constantly evolve, and the members of the band did everything not to make this album tedious. The drums aren't repetitive as well, maybe not to the extent of how the vocals and the guitars vary; however, there is no repeating the same pattern for 38 minutes. The drummer constantly alternates between relentless blast beats and slower passages; everything works well. The bass might not be very audible, but given the fact that there is a handful of things going on, it can be easily forgiven.

"Wounds Of Desolation" borders on perfection because it's extremely hard to find an album with so many influences from different genres, and it's even harder to blend them together so successfully. There is no denying the fact that Isolert is yet another fantastic band from Greece that undoubtedly deserves recognition. If I were to nitpick, I'd say that not every track was as great as 'Reflections Of Nothingness' or 'Flesh. Torn. Asunder!' and therefore I give this album 9.4/10. If you are familiar with other acts from the Ωrder of Antinomianism circle, such as Insanity Cult or Sørgelig, do not expect the same type of music for the third time. Be prepared for something different, yet equally satisfying.

Rating: 9.4 out of 10