Hear An Epic New Frenzied Black Metal Song From Izthmi Exclusively Here

On their debut full-length album The Arrows Of Our Ways, the intense Seattle metal band Izthmi perform an absolutely gripping musical exploration of the space where even extremes start collapsing. They mix gently gliding doom metal with repeated bursts of manic black metal frenzy, and they pockmark their sweeping songs with some perfectly captivating dramatic riffing. Some of those riffs are surprisingly catchy for an album this extreme. Check out an exclusive first listen below of the band’s intricate epic “A Shout that Bursts Through the Silence of Unmeaning.”

The full album will be available on February 14 via the also Seattle-based Within The Mind Records. (Check out their Bandcamp page at this link and their BigCartel webshop here to not miss anything.)

That release date – Valentine’s Day – seems to tie into the band’s favored themes, which it seems safe to assume was intentional. In their Bandcamp bio, Izthmi assert that “LOVE IS THE TRUTH,” while on the album itself, they include an about one and a half minute long track called “(The Angels Are Lost)” featuring an audio sample of someone discussing the power of love to emotionally lift someone from the most dismal situation. As the speaker explains, that song title refers to the idea that heavenly beings without earthly, human love miss something majorly important.

The band’s grave sound encapsulates the seriousness of these themes. There are never really any overly bright moments, but there’s always a sense of progress. Pairing the band’s energy with the feel of their physically oppressive songs, that progress is laden with darkness — but it’s a subtly exhilarating journey nonetheless.

Listen to the song below! The track begins with chilling, blistering mayhem before slowing down just long enough to launch into somehow even more intense-feeling segments. The track closes with minutes-long barrages of epic, dramatic sweeps.

Listen to more off the album and pre-order it digitally below.