adg211288 Isolate (2015) is the debut full-length studio album by Australian black metal act Mesarthim. The act are intentionally mysterious about their identities but are known to be a two piece act, though both members credit themselves as just '.' with the roles of 'vocals' and 'other'. So for all anyone knows this band could be two unknowns new on the scene or seasoned musicians. The album was originally released in digital only formats but Mesarthim have quickly gained the attention of Avantgarde Music who have released physical copies (both CD and vinyl) in February 2016. The 2016 edition contains the extra bonus track Suffocate (which is also available separately as a free download), adding almost another ten minutes to the running time.

The music on Isolate is atmospheric black metal with, as you may have guessed from its cover art which is a Hubble photograph of the Horsehead Nebula, a space theme (the name Mesarthim itself is an obscure name for the binary star system Gamma Arietis). It was hard for me to not think of another Australian black metal act, Midnight Odyssey, when Mesarthim came to my attention since both acts are from Australia and have similar themes, but musically both have very different takes on atmospheric black metal. The music here is very driven by keyboards (both piano and synths) with comparatively little time given over to lead guitar lines. The keyboard parts draw on a range of influences from ambient to electronic music, against a backdrop of black metal riffs, creating an excellent spacey black metal experience. The patterns in the music do lean towards the more repetitive side of the genre, but that's also exactly why this works. Some things don't need too many ideas thrown about to be their most effective. A large part of the album is based around instrumental work although most tracks do have vocals as well, though when they do appear they are more like a part of the atmosphere, as is quite typical for this genre. The synths sound majestic and uplifting, but the harsh vocals are there to remind the listener that space, while pretty, is a harsh, cold place. It's a contrast that conveys the subject matter well and better than any lyrics could which is a good thing here, as I honestly can't follow a word of growls.

I've come across space themed metal before and I have to say that Isolate is one of the best examples I've found that really captures how I imagine spacey music should sound and then successfully tie it in with metal. It's certainly going to be interesting to hear how Mesarthim continue to develop their sound after this. They're already a formidable act to these ears and Isolate is absolutely stellar stuff.