Isolate - Limitasolation [2010]
In early 2011, Tokyo’s Isolate was wrapping up the tour for the release of their first EP (short album?). As with most tours in Japan, this was an extended affair, occurring over a few months. Visitors to their website, something still uncommon then, would’ve seen an announcement on their homepage. Their drummer, Hidekazu Sato (aka. Bomber), announced that he was leaving the band, his last concert happening on 2/19/2011. He assured that the band would continue with a new drummer (which it did). Still, a band member leaving so soon after a band’s initial output is always unusual, especially when going in a manner such as this.
Bomber was leaving the band because he was moving to Germany. There he would start the marketing/booking company Monochromeheit and would be responsible for bringing bands such as Heaven In Her Arms, Tomy Wealth, and even Isolate to Europe. Unfortunately, Covid caused him to cancel a tour with Lang & Viva Belgrado and I haven’t seen anything from Monochromeheit since then.
So, what about Limitasolation? At six songs (five if you don’t count the ambient guitar instrumental “Go Out Or Sight” and four if you don’t consider the vocal-less intro track “Indomitable”), it’s a remarkable first EP. In 2010 in Japan, there was an odd lull in the underground scene. It was at the tail end of the third wave of Japanese Screamo. While many screamo bands were trying to develop a unique sound and figure out if they wanted to keep playing, Isolate’s debut EP was a focused, intense statement.
Isolate’s sound doesn’t quite follow the Japanese Screamo mainstream. Even lumping them in with screamo might be a bit of a mistake. With drums that tend towards blast beats and ambient guitars with dark melodies, they fit the closest to bands like Heaven in Her Arms. The immediate blasts from the first actual song on their EP, “Tragedy Of The Ruin,” feel like a proclamation to me. This is who we are: blast-beating, claustrophobic, evil-sounding guitars, strangled screaming. That song succinctly defined their entire sound. Even after an album and two more splits, “Tragedy Of The Ruin” is how I always remember Isolate.
Isolate would go on to release more music with another drummer. Their 2014 album “ヒビノコト” was my favorite album of that year. Somewhere around 2017, they decided to call it quits after almost a decade (their first demo was released in 2008) of activity. And although I'm always a little sad when bands break up if only because I love new music from them, Isolate built a discography that represented their vision. With almost 30 songs, the distorted, apocalyptic world Isolate wanted to create is clear.
https://isolatetokyo.bandcamp.com/
http://www.isolate-all-2007.com
http://www.myspace.com/isolateall
http://ameblo.jp/isolate2007