Inconcessus Lux Lucis - The Crowning Quietus (2017)

Inconcessus Lux Lucis has been steadily developing a sort of black metal savant status in England the likes of which we've seen from bands in the French scene, which overreach the bounds of that particular genre by threading in other styles that distinguish and enrich the traditional underpinnings. Similar to how a band like Deathspell Omega developed; the riffing and level of sheer dissonance being used by this band is not quite the same, and there is slightly less spastic, controlled chaos over this record, but the multitude of riffs, the willingness to embrace a bit of a death metal aesthetic and some melodic heavy metal riffing alongside its more technical blackened core. I had been highly impressed with their 2014 EP Crux Lupus Corona, and this follow-up by and large thrives on that same level of song-weaving potential.

The only real piece of 'tranquility' you'll find on The Crowning Quietus is its nightmarish intro piece "With Leaden Hooks and Chains", occult voices barking off against a background thud of drums and hellish, developing ambiance. After that it's off to the races, with a black metal rampage of passages which often resemble hyper-black/thrash note structures from the 90s, only with an almost carnival effect, or a mocking sensibility in how the frenzied higher note passages fly across the frets. As you might have guessed, these guys go with a deeper growl than most black metal vocalists, but it's not to the point of being truly guttural, just a deeper, full-bodied rasp. There are always new progressions of riffs being layered in through any given track, so while there aren't many which really stuck to my brain over the long term, they are definitely exciting and interesting to follow, never taking any safe or exceedingly predictable routes, instead more like a representation of madness, fits of which claim the listener as he's exposed to the shitstorm of the rhythm guitars. The rhythm section is likewise damned competent, with busy beats across the spectrum and a nice, throbbing, distorted bass tone which also helps capture a little of the nuclear thrash mood you can feel from some of the riffs.

Three of the songs are longer pieces, but they represent the back half of the album, which is smart because you'll be tossed into the sinister labyrinth like mice, but given a few simpler mazes to navigate before they just lay it all on in the more advanced levels. That said, they help flush out those 7-8 minute tunes with a broader array of atmospherics and varied guitars that avert needless repetition or redundancy. I'm not trying to misidentify Inconcessus Lux Lucis as some cheesy, overly technical outfit, they simply put a lot of effort into the songs, a lot of pattern memorization and make sure there is more to greet the ear than the same old chords and melodies you expect from a lot of midlist black metal even to this day. Song for song, I don't know that this beats the previous EP, but it's more than evident that they can maintain that style of hectic, energetic composition for about twice the length, since The Crowning Quietus is overall a merciful 35 minutes, knowing when to call it off and leave its audience frothing for more. More potential here than almost any other black metal outfit from the UK that I could name without having to think long and hard about it.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

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Inconcessus Lux Lucis - Crux Lupus Corona EP (2014)

I've grown increasingly keen on those black metal bands these past few year who have opened the floodgates for a sort of 'trad metal' revival when it comes to riffing choices, threads of melody and variation that simply do not exist when it comes to most of the atypical Scandinavian-blast aesthetics which so much of the genre can't seem to grow beyond...and maybe it doesn't have to, but the existence of works by Negative Plane, Funereal Presence, Head of the Demon, Hail Spirit Noir, and the latest records by veterans Zemial and Pest (Sweden) have all grown legs for me, and as soon as I started listening through Crux Lupus Corona I recognized a kindred spirit, albeit one who spins the technique into their own distinct flavor. Looking at just the cover art, with all its Latin, I was not at all expecting what I ended up hearing, and now realizing that I've missed an entire full-length earlier this year, you can bet my next action will be to track it down...

Synopsis: raw, fuzzed out guitars playing with a mixture of involved, folk inflected Euro melodies and more Eastern-themed embellishments, dowsed in the gnarled rasp we so often associate within the raw black metal medium (in particular I was getting Nocturno Culto vibes, but bloodier in many spots, maybe a little Famine too). Tunes are kept rather tight at about 5 minutes, rather than running off the tracks entirely, and they're varied up with breaks in the percussion over which the band spouts a more atmospheric mesh of dirty to clean vocals. The bass lines aren't the most corrosive, but they are voluminous, constantly ascending, descending and generally strutting their stuff interestingly enough that I'd probably enjoy hearing them without any of the other instruments involved; though they contrast wonderfully with the hustle of the guitars. The drums are peppy, loose, and with a lot of clank and crash at precisely the right moments where they would heighten their impact. Riffs are like this mesmerizing labyrinth of scales and melodies, but occasionally they'll bust out an old school, tinny blasted sequence where they fragment off into the dissonance and dark drama of the parent genre (as in "Crux"). The performance is quality all around, and simply more interesting than the lions share of their peers who have stuck to the same predictable patterns circa Norway and Sweden in the mid 90s.

If I were to go out on a limb I'd brand this a combination of 21st century Darkthrone with the first few albums by the Lord Weird Slough Feg, and yes, this is as fantastic as that sounds. A lot of charisma being distributed over only about 17 minutes of music, yet structurally consistent to the extent that I couldn't choose one track over the other as a favorite. The riffing feels inventive simply by nature of its volition to shuck the trends that might otherwise confine it; not that they're coming up with their own scales or theory but just entertaining the idea of something , with almost all the atmosphere created in the various guitar effects that crop up, plus that fundamental contrast of filth and eloquence concocted through the selected rhythm tone and stylish execution. These two Englishmen have themselves a wonderful sound here that I can only hope they take even further...the duration of the recording provides possibly its only restrictions, because you definitely feel like if they opened this all up another 30 minutes you'd be getting an even broader palette of tempo and experimentation, possibly even with more exotic instruments. Anyway, this is easily recommended to fans of Peste Noire, Lugubrum, or really any of the bands I've mentioned in the first 'graph.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

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