Isleptonthemoon - Only the Stars Know of My Misfortune

Isleptonthemoon is a one-man project from Atlanta, Georgia who combine post-rock, metal, depressive black and shoegaze into a style that channels Neverending pain and sadness. It's latest album, “Only the Stars Know of My Mistfortune,” is the fourth album released. 

The production is great. Although the album’s sound is certainly massive, perhaps even monolithic in terms of its stark emotional towers, the production and mix is open; everything flows freely and, with a decent pair of headphones, will envelope the senses. 

This is quite the arresting journey. It almost aways has a give and a take with the music, a constant push and pull between light and dark elements. I like that because even when it's at its most blackened moments, a certain gentle fragility exists. This is pained, harended music from a grave in place of a heart but it's also always teetering on the edge of a mental and emotional breakdown. 

On the flipside, the light elements, the ones that shine more clean than in the shadows of chaotic distortion, are just as dense and destructive but walking a different path to get there.

The album opens with “Safety,” and its warm, acoustic guitar. There is a feeling of being content in safety but there is also an underlying Feeling of something more sinister. These skies of grey turn bleak and thunderous around the halfway point, when the song explodes with intense drumming and bleak Sounds from the melancholic guitar. I like the clean keyboards, dropping like rain on cold Winter day.

“Maybe I Don't Know It Yet, but Good Things Are Coming Soon,” embraces their post-rock influences with gentle, clean vocals riding atop a wave of acoustic guitars and ambient keys. The song adds depth and intricate details as it smoothly flows over.  

Of course, the growing darkness, ever approaching, arrives at the 3:48 mark. The rest of the song is torturous but also beautiful in its despair.  This aligns with the overall sound of the album. It will break you but even through the tears, clarity can be found.

The final song, “Keep Hidden,” doesn't feature any metal elements but I'll be damned if it isn't just as potent and unrelenting. It's A quiet approach, a gentle breeze that moves as a ghost through the air. 

Isleptonthemoon’s “Only the Stars Know of My Mistfortune,” is a deep, dark journey that might leave the listener to explore their own depths even while plummeting into the albums own endless crevices.