Album Review: Carpathian - 'Isolation'

If you want to see something amusing

go and check out Carpathian’s MySpace page (you’ll find the

link above). Amongst the many thousands of comments from the band’s

hordes of fans, you’ll find a few short and sharp blasts of verbal

abuse. They usually look a little something like… 

“You guys are shit coz you

don’t have breakdowns anymore”. 

Now, that brief snippet of literary

genius does contain one solid fact… and it sure as hell isn’t the

misguided opinion that Carpathian are shit. In fact, Isolation

is one of the most well written, free flowing and powerful hardcore

releases of 2008, both here and abroad.  

Within thirty-seconds of pressing

the play button it’s obvious that the current Carpathian line-up

is an entirely different beast than the one we’ve become accustomed

to. Last year’s seven-inch only release (Wrecked) only hinted at what

the band was capable of, as the dense and grooving riffs of the album’s

title track make for a compelling listen. Continuing in a similar fashion

is “Cursed”, David’s driving single-kick drumming combining with Marty’s newfound vocal delivery to deliver one of the record’s

strongest tracks. 

“Spirals” is a straight to

the point blast of punk rock, the drum and bass driven breakdown (note,

breakdown does not equal mosh part kids) providing the perfect gateway

for the gang vocals of the song’s bridge section, while “Insomnia”

shows that Carpathian can still write a catchy tune without having

dumb down the musical or lyrical content of their material.  

Much has been made of Carpathian’s

musical transformation, but when a band spends as much time on the road

as these kids, your tastes, influences and attitudes are bound to change.

At the end of the day, they’ve created a fantastic record, one that

deserves the full attention of heavy music across the world. 

1. Isolation
2. Cursed
3. Spirals
4. Insomnia
5. The Cold Front
6. Deadbeats…
7. Sun Heights
8. Seventyk
9. Ceremony
10. Permanent