ISGALDER are a Black Metal band based out of Germany, formed back in 2017. This is their first EP record, entitled "To the Hall of the Stars", released through Hellthrasher Productions on March 9th, 2018. It consists of six tracks and 40:33 minutes of music. The namesake of the band comes from Old-High-German/Germanic and means "cold incantation" or "icy chant". The opening track "The Ravendale" begins with some beautiful flutes and keyboard effects, and we are introduced to the first style of vocals found on this album, clean Viking-based vocals, that definitely add to the mood of the song. This is the kind of music that seems perfect in the scenery of Scotland, in the wake of an impending revolution. The balance between black metal shrieks from Grimwald, harsh double-bass/blast beats and the sermon-like crescendos is extremely well done. The song progresses nicely between two very different atmospheres.

"Elder Wisdom" starts off in a similar fashion, with medieval-style flutes, but it definitely does not limit the pace, as black metal shrieks take center stage with a great deal of aggression. Surprisingly, some passages are much doomier, reminiscent of AGALLOCH. The clean vocals have much more echo to them this time around and that also adds a great deal of depth and richness to the song. "Soaring Mountains" as the title implies is one that edifies nature and the purity of its essence. Just like a mountain, this track starts from the ground with very grindy Black Metal riffing, amidst lovely choirs and it slowly ascends to reach the peak using three different tools in the vocals, the high pitched anger, the hypnotic and epic clean variety, but also a taste of both, harsh yet controlled emotion.

The final three tracks here are alternate versions of the songs, they do have some differences, but overall the key sustenance here are the three original tracks. Overall, this is quite a solid effort in the epic Black Metal genre and will be interesting to see what this band produces next.