ISLE OF THE CROSS is an American Progressive Metal band, coming from California, and have debuted on Feb. 22. 2020 with their album "Excelsis". The band fuses elements of Avant-Garde, Symphonic Metal and Technical Death Metal into their sound, as well as subtle influences from Gothic Metal, Electronica and even New Age, providing a diverse range.

"Excelsis" is a concept record, following the story of a couple of lovers through their life and afterlife. A story filled with crime, lust and bitterness as much as everlasting love, taking a couple of notes from Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy".

It starts right off the bat with the intense opener "Sacrifice". Playing a little into the "beauty and the beast" trope, there's an exquisite contrast between harsh male vocals and soaring female cleans in the intro of the track. Leader Je Schneider's vocals are a bit too distorted on the verses for my liking, and I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of the effect used on them. Diane Lee's vocalizations provides a little light among the darkness and brutality of the track, with its almost Math-y riffing. Guitarist Eric Gillett throws in some proggy leads on the second half of the track.

"Tartarus" comes next, drawing some classic Heavy Metal and Hard Rock influence when it comes to riff songwriting (think BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW or IRON MAIDEN), filtered through a modern sound. Synthesizers add a Prog undertone, and three minutes in the track moves into a Flamenco-tingled, early YES-like acoustic section. The transition is not the most polished, but somewhat works due to the surprise effect. A little bit of flute take things into a JETHRO TULL or even early KING CRIMSON direction, while tasteful, tom-tom heavy drumming contributes to the folksy vibe. The classic Prog influences abound, most noticeably on the synth solo that decorates the middle section. The last third of the track brings some electronic elements to the forefront, adequately mixed with crushing heaviness.

The title track makes the most of its dramatic choruses, taking on a grand symphonic and theatrical sound. It is a remarkably fun track, with a Power Metal-ish feel. The vocal arrangements and usage of organ are simply chilling. Schneider and Gillette get to trade solos, the former skillfully playing a clavichord-like synth (going for a Keith Emerson vibe), and the latter taking his guitar for joyful highs. It feels profoundly cathartic.

The album gets into its middle third with the two-parter "The Wolf". The first part, "Invocation" is little more than a lengthy, ambient intro to part two with some melodramatic spoken word. "Sanctuary", the second part of "The Wolf" gets going with an epic guitar solo by Gillette and some aggressive vocal delivery from Eric Castiglia. He breaks up words and sentences for dramatic purpose, while the guitar and bass emulate his choppy vocal lines, giving the track a groovy feel. Midpoint through, the song abruptly descends into belligerent, war music, with a military march rhythm and atmospheric ambience. It picks up the pace again a couple of minutes later, once again in a brusque way. The songwriting certainly feels a little sloppy here in comparison to previous tracks, as the different sections of the track do not flow in an organic way.

ISLE OF THE CROSS quickly made up for the sloppiness of "The Wolf" with two of the best tracks here, the lovely power ballad "Stars" and the aggressive, Gothic-tingled "Empyrean". The former features beautiful piano playing and tasteful orchestrations, providing a bed for Schneider's clean vocals to full-on display some vulnerability. It functions as a respite from previous songs. Meanwhile, "Empyrean" expertly couples electronic elements and heavy riffing, going upfront with a blast beat assault. A proper duet, in which Lee commands with her strong vocal lines, leaving Schneider's on a complementary role. Very modern sounding, close to the most interesting WITHIN TEMPTATION at times. A little over six minutes it falls into an atmospheric, reverb-heavy break, almost a New Age mood-piece. A last chorus to finish the track, with the organ tone and joyful vibe providing a celestial ending.

"Paradigm" kicks off the last third of "Excelsis" with its Industrial-tingled, Post-Grunge sound. It is a heavy track, with a strong late nineties/early 2000s-inspired air. The band pushes the electronic elements to the forefront again, fusing them perfectly with their heavy sound. In adequate contrast, "Breatheia" goes next, in jazzy manner with its complex drumming, atmospheric keyboards and textured guitar. It goes for a Djent-y mood, reminiscent of CHON and ANIMALS AS LEADERS, with a couple of synth and guitar solos on top.

The album closes with the three-parter "The 9^th Circle". Parts one and two are actually brief tracks that function as a lengthy introduction. Part one "Caina" is an orchestral and choral piece, seeming straight out of a soundtrack, while part two "Judecca" is an atmospheric interlude with subtle orchestrations on the background and melodramatic spoken word. The proper closer of the record is "Inferno", part three of "The 9^th Circle", a proggy, symphonic and thrashy mayhem. Lee and Castiglia get to duet here, and again the contrast works perfectly. She even shows more of her range, sounding almost operatic. The orchestrations bring back the KING CRIMSON influences. A cathartic finale that brings the story to a close. Sadly, clunky songwriting and some weird production choices make the impact of the whole track quite uneven. The most baffling decision has to be the addition of an abrupt acoustic section packed with dizzying, psychedelic flanger effects.

Overall, "Excelsis" is a fun record with an interesting concept and some truly great songs in it that leaves the impression that could have been even better is some fat had been trimmed. Still, as a debut record is certainly a solid and ambitious one, showing promise of better things to come. The musicianship is remarkable and when ISLE OF THE CROSS gets it right, they deliver amazing songs, like "Stars". Keep an eye on what comes next from them!