Formed in early 2013, Atlanta’s MTN ISL have been climbing through the city’s punk and hardcore underground the old-fashioned way: with a catalog of blistering songs and an explosive live show. Along the way, they’ve opened for the likes of sludge metal legends Floor, post-punk agitators Protomartyr, and hardcore revolutionaries Retox, each time winning audiences over with their ambitious songwriting and live wire intensity.

Consisting of Daniel Deckebach (Rapturous Grief, The Felon Wind), Josh Lyner (The Sunglasses), Ray Fleming (The Sunglasses) and Gene Leath (The Felon Wind), MTN ISL are marked by an abrasive, angular sound that’s equal parts classic Dischord punk and wiry Midwestern math rock. Their debut EP, God Become Animal, was a raw and dissonant testimonial to the power of jagged riffs and cathartic scream-sung vocals that threw off hints of ‘90s greats like Shiner and Chavez without succumbing to nostalgia’s blurry lens. While the band has no qualms with looking to the past for inspiration, their frenetic urgency and forward-thinking arrangements place their music squarely in the here and now.

Recorded near Mt. Yonah in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia, MTN ISL's upcoming first full length is a record born in meditative seclusion. It is leaner and more polished than its predecessor, but no less visceral. Lead single “Spider Relations” is a nervy, tightly-wound thriller, while its follow-up, “Naut Cool,” showcases a more thoughtful and deliberate approach. All of it points to a creative breakthrough for MTN ISL, a defining record for a band that's undoubtedly on the rise.

Guillermo Castro - Immersive Atlanta

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