Fertile fields rich with giant crops, a silver full moon, bestial sex, brutal endless warfare and its sorrows. It all fits in the interesting and diverse portfolio of Isthar (Ishtar, Astarte, Inanna, later Aphrodite en probably many more pseudonyms), a powerful Mesopotamian goddess. The mythological information on this goddess is as diverse as her powers. She for example lives in the underworld, in heaven or in the ocean depths, so it is hard to present a solid account on her. The band Isthar has taken the goddess’ name for her powers in creation and destruction. She symbolizes the dualism of life itself and therefore stands for their complete musical and lyrical concept. Isthar is a Dutch black/death/doom metal band that was founded in 1996 by John (vocals) and Rainier (bass). Other members include Mario (guitars), Dennis (bass) and Werner (drums). Before releasing this debut album, they produced two demos called Isthar (1998) and The Weak Will Perish (2000). Among the Ruins is a very diverse album, a mixture of mid-tempo or fast death metal, blackish elements and even with slow doomy parts. Isthar was influenced by various Nordic bands, though the sound of their music ranges more from Hate Forest (low vocals) to newer Immortal (listen to the title song!; tack 10) to Winter (threatening slowness).

These bands are only named to give you a slight idea, originality is their trademark. Instruments and vocals are very strong, which can be heard because of the very clear production of this (self-released) album. Both a five-string and a ten-string (!) bass are used to give the music its power. Various types of vocals are used, from very low grunts to high screams. The higher screams are not too powerful, they do not contain the strength to be really interesting. Besides drums instruments like timpani and a concert bass drum are used in certain songs. Guitars are sometimes mixed a bit to the background while the two bass-players dominate the music. What misses in my opinion is the filthy and evil atmosphere I prefer with (rawer) black and death metal. The music is not really arousing, though still very strong. Also, the fragmentation of the songs is another cause for the lack of atmosphere. At times, the music comes to an abrupt stop, to go on with another type of riff/pace/speed. A very positive thing by the way is the great (photography) artwork on both Isthars’ website (www.isthar.info) and album. To like this album, you must both enjoy faster black/death parts and long doomy parts. The enormous diversity and the use of “unusual” instruments is probably its strength. Really worth a listen!