N.C. Doomers AITTALA Reveal New Music Video “Isolation”

Six full-lengths, two EPs, strong and steady since 2008. Dang. What keeps North Carolina trio AITTALA going? Sheer compulsion for music making is my guess. There’s nothing like the experience of the real thing, despite the obscene ease and seductive sophistication of AI fakery. To hear and feel heavy music live from their minds and voices and hands of real human beings just like you – well, there’s just nothing like it. Bands with stubborn longevity like Aittala serve as an inspiration to the scene. Pick up an instrument, get to jamming, let your voice be heard.

If this is your first encounter with the band, perhaps “Isolation” is as good an introduction as any. Mysterious strumming, powerful emphatic chords, and wall-shaking disruption clears the path for soulful, soaring guitar soloing and somber Gothic intonations.

The words are relatable to everyone who has felt isolation in the wake of family breakdown, fallen idols, and the loss of true community. We are increasingly siloed into a lonely, virtual existence, housed conveniently in cages of wood and plastic and concrete, subsisting on artificial, processed, and packaged goods churned out by humanless factories. It’s a nightmare that H.G. Wells, Orwell, and Huxley hinted at but could have scarcely envisioned in its nihilistic, nightmarish reality.

Lyrics are stained with regret, lamenting a life devoid of meaning, where technology has eclipsed talent. The machine has been slowly replacing us all for generations, now accelerating humanity into the unknown. With little to believe in and reality on a shakey basis, more and more people are wondering, “What’s the point?” and losing themselves in a soul-crushing death spiral of drugs, alcohol, greed, violence, debauchery, and inevitable madness.

Born with an expiration date
Blessed with the curse you cannot escape
The taste is so bitter sweet
When you learn you’ve become obsolete

Aittala sees clearly in these desperate times, which makes their sound all the more compelling. Witness the gravity and might of “Isolation” now, as Doomed & Stoned brings you its world premiere. It comes from their new EP, “Ill-Gotten Gains’ (2025), available soon on Exitus Stratagem Records (get it here).

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Genre-blurring metal duo AITTALA returns with their latest and second EP of 2025, "Ill-Gotten Gains,” dropping November 21, 2025, via Exitus Stratagem Records. The EP’s lead single, “Isolation,” is accompanied by a gripping music video that captures the emotional weight and sonic depth of the track.

“Isolation” sets the tone for the EP with its doomy atmosphere, heavy guitars, and unexpected time signature shifts. Lyrically, it explores the consequences of past decisions, a theme that runs throughout the entire release.

The music of AITTALA (pronounced ‘EYE-tah-la’) crosses many metal genres; it’s hard to put it into just one category. The sound infuses elements of classic heavy metal, doom, progressive, power, thrash, and hard rock with lyrics drawing inspiration from the darker side of the human condition. The AITTALA sound has been cited for being unique, which is no easy feat in the metal genre.

The first incarnation of AITTALA was formed in 1991 while Eric was living in the Netherlands. With fellow American Tim on vocals and Dutch bandmates Ed (drums) and Jon (bass), the band became a staple of the Dutch metal scene.

With the release of the 3-song EP 'Selling Heaven’ in the summer of 1993, AITTALA opened for such bands as THE GATHERING and SADIST. Unfortunately, as the demo started to create a buzz in the underground European metal scene, Eric had to return to the US and disbanded AITTALA.

In 2008, the time was right to resurrect AITTALA. From 2009 to 2022, AITTALA released 6 full-length albums: 'Bed of Thorns’ (2009), 'Haunt Your Flesh’ (2011), 'Effigy’ (2014), 'American Nightmare’ (2016), 'False Pretenses’ (2019), 'Live to Regret (2022) & Machines (EP 2025). Each release showcases a natural progression of songwriting and lyrical content but retaining the core AITTALA sound and evolving it.

The current lineup of AITTALA consists of Eric Aittala on guitars/vocals and Gary 'Zeus’ Smith (THE FIFTH, ex-MR BLACKWELL) on drums. They continue to write, record and tour to bring AITTALA to the masses.