June 12, 2012

The Isosceles Project - Bridges

Review by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.

Artwork by Eric Euler

The Isosceles Project are a progressive, instrumental metal band from Toronto, ON, made up of Eric Euler (guitar), Scott Tessier (bass) and Brandon Smith (drums). With their newest release, Bridges, they neatly avoid the trap that many instrumental bands fall into: writing music that's characterized by a palpable lack of vocal presence. Instead, the Isosceles Project allow the other instruments to steer the way. While they describe themselves as "experimental," a more accurate description might be to dub them "exploratory metal." Here, they're engaging in musical world building, creating the contours of an aural landscape.

The songs on Bridges unravel like expeditions. "March of the Obsolete" has the hand-over-hand intensity of a hard vertical climb; "Ship Without A Sail" skims breathlessly over whitecaps; and "Temporal Laceration" embodies the freefell, and subsequent claustrophobia, of spelunking. While the three long tracks that compose Bridges are vast and cavernous, they're also filled with flourishes and details, and the music is often psychedelic in its vividness. Heaving and roiling, multi-hued and bright, Bridges invites the listener on a journey that offers aural riches to the brave who accept.


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