Izthmi - The Arrows of Our Ways (2020)^{Release ID: 17316}

The Arrows of Our Ways is the debut album from Izthmi, an atmospheric black metal quintet out of Seattle, and I enjoyed what I heard out of this opening display.

Their sound is hard to explain; I do hear some influence from a band such as Saor, but without the folk/pagan effects. Some of the more traditional black metal sections reminded me of bands such as Harikari For The Sky. Regardless of who they sound like, this album is produced very well. The wall of sound guitars are very pretty and the lead guitar parts are effective at breaking up the wall of sound sections and the vocal howls. Speaking of the vocals, Jakob Keizer has one hell of a performance on this record. I really enjoyed the sound of his low gutturals that take influence more from death metal. The way that they are used in between passages of fast tremolo picking blast beats is stellar.

I do wish this album had a bit more of a bass presence; having two guitars is great when one takes on a lead role, but most of the time the rhythm guitar is just playing root passages, leaving the bass in the back. Also, while the clean singing sections aren’t distracting on “Useless Is the Song of Man, From Throats Calloused by Name”, the fact that it’s the only time on the album clean vocals are used, makes them feel like an afterthought. There were also a couple of moments on that song as well as “The Arrows of Our Ways” where Keizer’s vocals cracked at the ends of phrases, something that could have been easily fixed.

But as it stands, I really liked this. The melodies are equal parts crunchy and pummeling, but also soaring and beautiful. Give these guys a chance and check this out. Can’t wait to hear what comes next.