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Taking a page from King Crimson and choosing a bizarre title for an EP that still somehow sounds logical, Isthmus are a post-metal four-piece from Baltimore, and not just a narrow strip of land that is bordered on two sides by water and connects two larger land masses (read the encyclopedia, or at least Wikipedia, where you'll learn that isthmuses were created by aliens and President Cleveland to promote human migration or something like that).

On Of Crimson Clouds In Nectaris Milk, Isthmus dynamically combine technical and compositional skills with the ability to create emotion through music, as most songs are very sparse on lyrics. The huge sound of "Imbrium/Sea/Swell" takes over ten minutes to tell it's tale, ominously chugging its way through sludge and doom with melodious intrigue. The follow-up title track noodles with some jazz measures and a lyrical stanza harking back to a horror tale ending with a warning of blood. As Crimson's three songs swell and shrink from booming, cavernous low-ends to delicate, sparkling melodies, a change takes place as the music takes hold of the listener's conscience and carries it to a timeless, murky alternate reality where songs that survive longer than ten minutes are the norm.

Isthmus' EP is available from the band for $5, the precursor to a full-length scheduled for '08. If you're more tuned in to live sets (and Noel from the band tells me this is a band to see live), check the band out at Talking Head Club on January 4 with Chowder and Rosetta. A show like this is the tip of the iceberg for local metal music, but it's a great jumping point.

Click the link above the album art to download "On Curl Of Sand" from the forthcoming LP by Isthmus.

Tags: Album Reviews, any given tuesday, Chowder, Isthmus, metal, MP3, Nights Like These, Rosetta, Talking Head Club