Even in the cultish world of heavy metal, few bands have fostered so enviable a reputation with so little as England's mystery-shrouded Isen Torr. Established in 2003 by Solstice guitarist (and owner of the Miskatonic Foundation label) Richard M. Walker with the help of Twisted Tower Dire vocalist Tony Taylor, ex-Destiny's End guitarist Perry M. Grayson, ex-Ritual Steel bassist Oliver Zühlke, and future Ritual Steel drummer Martin Zellmer, Isen Torr were originally created for the specific purpose of recording three vinyl-only EPs, and then performing said trilogy live on a single occasion before disbanding. That was the plan, anyway, but the group's initial lineup wound up disintegrating almost immediately after the release of 2003's Mighty & Superior EP, thus leaving fans to lick their chops with but two songs -- albeit eight-minute epics -- at that. However, such was the quality of these galloping odes to anthemic trad metal (aptly dubbed "Anglo Saxon Battle Metal" by the group) that they captured the imagination and hearts of discerning underground metal fans everywhere -- so long, that is, as they could actually find a copy or download the songs from the Internet. But despite all this, Isen Torr have thus far reneged on their promise to record additional material, so Walker finally agreed to let Shadow Kingdom Records release Mighty & Superior on CD in 2008, thereby expanding the group's legend and guaranteeing ever growing anticipation for those next two EPs and their promised debut and final in-concert live performance at an as yet unspecified date and location. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia