Black Metal is possibly the most misanthropic genre within Metal, with several of the most poignant works coming from individuals who closet themselves away from the world, choosing the freedom of expression that comes through complete isolation over the mutual creativity that stems from working with other musicians. Completely shut off from everything else, the music is their life, and their life is music; this reclusiveness has spawned ingenious solo-projects such as LEVIATHAN, XASTHUR, and STRIBORG. Another such isolationist is MOLOCH, from the Ukraine. With a prodigious back-catalogue, August saw the release of "Die Isolation", a nine tracked LP.

Released on vinyl, and limited to just 300 copies, "Die Isolation" contains six Black Metal tracks, one acoustic track, and two Dark Ambient compositions, with a total play time of 50 minutes, although the final track "Abgrund meines Wesenz" comprises almost half of that playtime. The thematic content of the songs revolve around agony, anguish, death, coldness, and the futility of human existence, with the lyrics themselves being sung in Ukrainian, although each track title is in German.

Starting off with "Das Uralte verweilt dazwischen", an instrumental intro, the listener is soon launched into a very raw slow-tempo Black Metal style, complete with insane shrieks, reminiscent of projects such as early BURZUM.  Encapsulating devastating desolation, "Die Isolation" contains moments of pure traditional Black Metal rawness. With the drums providing a muffled rhythm in the background, and the tremolo guitar work being strongly in the fore, the piercing screeches and almost chant-like vocals together with the occasional chunky bass-line combine to give an air of torment and despondency. What I enjoy about this album is that even though each of the tracks contain this soul-searing anguish, each one has something unique about it that adds variation to the music and takes you on a journey through the pits of human mortality and emotion. Things speed up toward the end of the album, but without losing any of the music's gripping frost-bitten edge. "Nebelwald" provides a strong contrast to this, with its haunting melody picked out on acoustic guitar, reminding me of TAMERLAN's earlier and darker works. The final track, which lasts over 20 minutes, is a very ambient one; a highly mesmerising and relaxing one in the right frame of mind, although it can get monotonous for everyday listening. If you let it, this composition provides a level of catharsis and healing after the ravages that came before, ending the album with a clean slate.

Overall, "Die Isolation" is a very minimalistic and organic album; having said that, the recording is still clear enough for each instrument to be clearly distinguishable, even if the distortion has been put through the roof. If you like your Black Metal steak so raw that the cow is yet to be born, then this is something worth checking out.