PODCAST: The Forest Passage 16: Echoes From Siberia (Isa)

This combination of humility, love of nature, introversion, and mysticism finds a poignant voice in Siberian metal band Isa’s third release, Эхо (trans: Echo). The music of Isa can perhaps best be categorized as post-black metal, but where many artists working in that genre use its emotionality to explore personal psychology, Isa’s discography conveys a personal connection to the infinite as manifested by cultural heritage, religion, and landscape. The heady mix of slow, meditative melodies and howled-but-distant vocals wraps the listener in a beauty that is at once exotic and accessible. The simplicity of compositions is belied by the strata of sounds that make up each track, elegantly layering folk instrumentation, ecclesiastical bell-ringing, and traditional rhythms alongside electric guitars, synth passages, and black metal vocals.

The songs on Эхо, like those on prior Isa releases, evoke the wilderness of Siberia. A vast area of land, Siberian Russia sees some of the greatest variations in seasonal climate on the planet. The popular vision of an unforgiving, ice-encrusted plain tells only part of the story, with sometimes too-brief summers bringing sunshine and warmth to the region’s lakes and coniferous forests. Эхо is suited to contemplating the changing seasons, with the dynamic contrast of “Дерево [The Tree]” suggesting spring blooms unfolding into summer’s richness while the spiraling structure of the album’s title track evokes steadily falling, perhaps infinite, snow.