This is the sophomore release by one-man band Is featuring Nøkken on all instruments and vocals. Formed only 3 years ago he has already released numerous EPs and singles with the cold and frost appearing to be his main thematic go to.
There are six atmospheric black metal tracks averaging around 7 minutes each on the album, which opens with “Where It Began” and its melodic guitar riff that fades in the mix once the drum battery begins and he roars his death growl. The guitar lead however is rather flowing and accompanied by a harmonious clean vocal that gives the song its mellower and more musical feel.
The title track “Into My Own” has a buzz saw sounding guitar riff that is nearly drowned out by the keyboards and meandering lead. The drumming is slow and steady providing a tempo for the drawn out growls, but nearly half way through the song, they kick up the pace to attempt some very tinny sounding blast beats. The bass run has an interesting pattern, but I think the tone could be a little warmer.
“All That Is Gold” on the other hand has exactly that tone for the guitar as it goes from distorted to clean then back again with a choppy but chunky riff and keyboard accompaniment.
Keeping things very slow and gloomy “To the Sun” has the bass popping the root notes for the guitars over the rather washy sounding cymbals that sound too clipped, before having the drums sounding a bit rushed and running into each other before the song fades out.
The fastest track on the album is “In a Dark Time”, but that’s more the ticking over of the kick drum as the guitars maintain a constant buzzing riff at about half the pace, allowing the vocals to do the same.
The final track on the album is a Woods of Ypres cover in the form of “A Meeting Place and Time”, and other than the drum sound, everything else actually sounds a lot more like live-recorded instruments and more variations in tone and inflection on the vocals.
Sadly nothing too original here and while there are plenty of good ideas with some solid composition, it’s a little let down by the sound of the drums and varying levels of the instruments, rather than being a cohesive sound that would warrant repeated listenings.
(5/10 Marco Gaminara)
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