Album Review: ColdWorld – “Isolation” (Ambient/Depressive Black Metal)

Written by Espi Kvlt

There have been many times since I began writing for Noob Heavy that I felt an immense honor to be able to listen to an album before the general public and tell everyone how I feel about it, but I have never felt that way as intensely as I did when the new ColdWorld hit my inbox. I remember hearing Autumn in 2016 and just seeing the cover art alone made me fall in love with it. The music made me adore it, and it’s been one of my favorite albums of all time ever since. As well, DSBM is my favorite subgenre of black metal, and ColdWorld is a staple of the genre. I feel like a small housecat reviewing how well a cheetah catches a gazelle, and I have been given a case of imposter’s syndrome knowing that people will read my review of a band I have admired for years and perhaps base their opinions on it, but here goes: this is a review of Isolation by ColdWorld.

The album’s ambience is thick from the beginning. The first song is somber instrumentation, and if you’re literally alone like I was when I listened to it, this song is going to make you very aware of it and possibly sad about it. It’s not simply an intro. It’ll get into your head and set your mood long after you’ve heard the last drumbeat. And if you think it’s going to get into the heavier stuff with the next song, think again. You’re still alone on “Soundtrack to Isolation”, and these subtle guitar strums are here to remind you. It isn’t long before the drums kick in and the intensity of the song starts, but as it does, that sad guitar strumming continues. Even towards the end of the song, when the riffs intensify, there is a sorrowful choir singing in the background as well as some string instrumentation that make the song as a whole feel like one dark journey into a depressive state.

The hardcore black metal kicks in on “Walz”, and it kicks in hard. You barely have a chance to breathe and register the sadness you were just met with before these vocals get right up in your face like a demon who knows you’re home alone and is going to take full advantage of you. The vocals on this one sounds seriously fiendish, reaching registers I was not aware were possible by a mere mortal. Just as quickly as it attacks you, however, it gets into more sorrowful instrumentation, just constantly fluctuating your emotions between fear, sadness, regret, guilt, and whatever other fucked up thing it can do to you with a mere A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Compared to the previous track, this one is short, and it was confusing to try and figure out if I was relieved because the demon inside the song scared me or sad because it excited me. I didn’t have long to feel either way, however, as after fading out with some gentle guitar picking, “We Are Doomed” eased me in with instrumentation that lived up to its title. This song is doomy, and I love it. Even the vocals, which kick in about halfway through, are giving doom metal through and through. It’s different, it’s depressing, it’s refreshing, and it fits so well on this black metal project you forget for a moment that this is DSBM. 

If the doom stood out, “Five” stands out even more. It’s mostly water sound effects, a light ambience, and what’s that horrifying sound in the background? Sounds like someone dying. I’ve gone from sad to a bit unnerved to very freaked out, and I’m loving every second of it. Anyway, moving on, the lovely-titled “Wound” gets us back into some traditional DSBM sound, with what has now become a familiar classical string instrumentation layered atop it and vocals that go between deathlike screams and singing so soft it could sing a lullaby atop this music and a baby would fall asleep to it. 

Speaking of music soft enough for a baby to fall asleep to but unsettling in the way only an older person would be able to comprehend and be frightened by, “Isolation Stagnation” is very similar to the opening song of the album. The major difference being it’s six minutes of this harrowing, lonely atmosphere this time. While listening to it, I genuinely started to feel like I was in Silent Hill, and I mean that as the greatest compliment in the world. And even better, when the last song, “Hymnus”, begins, it sounds identical to an actual Silent Hill song. I’m fully there now, and I’m alone, and there are monsters everywhere shrieking, and I don’t know what to do. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Unsurprisingly, ColdWorld have not only released another killer album, but they have outdone themselves on this release, experimenting with different genres and sounds, implementing risky and rewarding moves, and providing an atmosphere from start to finish that was gripping, depressing, and terrifying. I’m walking away from this feeling both sad and scared. I feel like I’m currently lost in Silent Hill and my wife is dead and I don’t know if I’m more scared of the monsters or sad about my dead wife. What I’m trying to say is this album is exactly what I want in DSBM and then some, and it’s perfect.