The weird world of progressive death metal is one that I feel like deserves much more attention and should also be a much more saturated style. It’ll allow for bands who enjoy their death to take it to unforeseen landscapes that fans could explore to their hearts’ delight. Standing on the edge of highly experimental while also having a palpable quality in technicality, the debut effort of Isa shows that this one-man act truly has the imagination and talent worthy enough to become part of such a daunting style.

Technical death metal is something that’s fascinating just by itself, but adding a thick progressive nature to the mix truly makes the music in question the very definition of volatile. It’s a very difficult concoction to pull off that no matter what requires immense diligence whether or not it’s pulled off. In the case of Isa’s debut album of “Chimera”, the results are stupendous but with a few small upsets here and there. In the grand scheme of “Chimera”, the listener is greeted with an incredibly layered listening experience that is as much a marvel of the style as much it is an assault on the senses with all eleven tracks coming at you in full force. No stone is left unturned here as Isa does his best to show with this debut that death metal can truly elevate itself to a higher point where the line becomes blurred and it becomes much more of a literal escape from reality than a mere metaphor. On the other hand, however, the sheer amount of different styles, the raw sounds themselves, and the overall feel of “Chimera” itself can feel clustered or even claustrophobic at times because there’s simply so fucking much going on. Yet, Isa still manages to pull it together in order to make “Chimera” an experience filled with many flavors by the end that’s nigh on an enjoyable example to explore.

There are very few examples of works like this that are actively pushing the boundaries of death metal itself to a great degree. Since they’re such a rarity, bands like Isa are what keep me coming back to this incredible niche style time and time again. If there’s anything that’s to show with “Chimera”, it’s that Isa has the tenacity of an act that can do great things and the will to bring them to fruition. If that isn’t a sure-to-win combo then I don’t know what is.

LISTEN to “Chimera” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Isa on Facebook here.