To travel is to experience. Expanding horizons enrich the mind, sharpen perspectives and make the general colour of life more vibrant. Or, at least, so we are told. Trekking the globe with friends and acquaintances may sound appealing, but what about venturing out on your own? Whilst some swear by the liberating experience of setting off with no ties, no baggage and nobody else, for others this idea is enough to induce palpitations. To watch ones homestead shrink into obscurity whilst the unknown unfolds and encompasses habitual existence is exciting, but it is also terrifying. On Island Intervals, Death Vessel explore the fear, anxiety and restless freedom of a nomadic existence. A wanderer and inquisitive explorer of nature as well as sound, creaking doors, rustling leaves and rippling waves provide the soundtrack to this album; the sound of movement.

But not all migrations are voluntary. Sometimes movement is forced. “Ejecta” opens the album with the groaning and squeaking of floorboards and bed springs and Thibodeau’s ghostly falsetto vocals, delayed and warping, telling a story of flooding forcing individuals to pack-up and move-on. Unthinking, unrelenting nature defeating humanity, “The water will casually follow it’s route, the cage-bird will gradually go coo-coo / While the water will actually fill the whole room, and the bird will be better off fling the coup”.

Death Vessels’ collaboration with Jónsi Þór Birgisson and Alex Somers give Island Intervals the dark natural wonder you’d expect from working with the two Sigur Ros men. The pummelling, soft percussion of “Velvet Antlers” and starry-eyed awe of “Ilsa Drown” showcasing the perfect intertwining of celestial vocals from both Thibodeau and Birgisson.

Created over the course of two-and-a-half years of practically nomadic existence, Islands Intervals was recorded sporadically between Rhode Island, Iceland and and the maritime fortress of Suomenlinna, located just off the coast of Helsinki. There are clear disparate relationships between certain sections of the album, with each track fading into obscurity, receding on the skyline as a new song looms into existence. The differing landscapes on this album project jarringly contrasting moods. The dark, determination of “Island Vapours” feels a thousand miles away from the sickly “Triangulated Heart” and the upbeat folly of “Mercury Dime”, not just in mere complexity, but Thibodeau sings from a completely different pit of this soul. His voice sometimes sounds like that that of small lost child, struggling to understand the natural world, whilst at other times he is full of wide-eyed confidence and spirited adventure.

The heart of this album lies in Thibodeau’s ability to find gorgeous melodies no matter what the setting. Through the darkened forests of “Velvet Antlers”, or the clear, open wintry plains of “We Agreed”; the water logged trenches of ‘Ejecta’, or the sun-kissed lakes of “Mercury Dime”, Thibodeau utilises his angelic vocals to elevate his songs from the dirt and crumpled leaves on the ground, beyond the luscious canopies and into the breathy stratosphere.

Island Intervals tells an intriguing story of the restless, nomadic soul, searching for different landscapes and soundscapes to impress upon the individual psyche; a cathartic communication, and an introspective revelation. The wondrous melodies sometimes come across as overly whimsical and fey, but Death Vessels create a communicative link from the human heart straight to the unknown realms of the cosmos. Discovering far off lands with an experienced yet quizzical mindset, submitting to the hopeful beauty of the unknown.