When Chapel of Disease‘s newest album, Echoes of Light, came out this February, I abused the power I bestowed upon myself to smuggle a thinkpiece onto the blog disguised as a review. Without reaching much of a conclusion, I ruminated on the trend of bands slowly morphing away from their style to something decidedly unmetallic, by only keeping the growls and maintaining a veneer of maybe not entirely earned extremity. Echoes of Light was good – even great maybe, but I doubt I would have ever checked it out had it been sold as the Santana and Dire Straits worship that it really was. In the wake of the album, I made a point to listen to more of the classic rock that it was inspired by, picking up old Santana pressings at swap meets and other such places and my stance on it has softened just a touch. The growls do add a certain emotional quality to this type of music, even if only minimally and even if admittedly, a similar effect could have been achieved with clean vocals.
As I am the resident traditional metal guy (for lack of an actual trad guy on the blog), it befell me to review Inconcessus Lux Lucis’ newest album Temples Colliding In Fire. Inconcessus Lux Lucis play a concoction of new wave of British heavy metal tropes with black metal and maybe the thinnest possible goth sheen. The combination of a boomer musical style with more current metal reminded me of my mixed feelings on Chapel of Disease. Luckily, Temples in Colliding in Fire doesn’t hit me in such a complicated way. This is partly due to the band choosing styles that are less divorced from one another than Chapel of Disease. Black metal has often flirted with traditional metal leanings, be it the Hellenic scene or whatever Fenriz is up to these days. The Iron Maiden influence is notable here as the band goes for galloping rhythms and harmonized leads that recall the Irons both harmonically and melodically. Inconcessus Lux Lucis maybe favor the minor side of the equasion moreso than Maiden would have done it, but this makes sense for an extreme metal band, lending pathos and maybe a hint of bittersweet nostalgia to the mix. The band is not a one trick pony, though. Sections in the title track remind of a more measured Slayer, flirting with melodic death metal, with jagged, rhythmic trills filling out a melodically oriented guitar riff. Later, we are treated to Dio era Sabbath riffs in “Eternal Descent (At the Speed of Death)”, showcasing the band’s ability to vary tempo and energy for more dynamic songwriting. Ten minute closer “And His Wounds Shall Devour the Heavens” justifies its runtime, filled to the brim with unique musical quotes and a structure that makes the epic scale both warranted, and an exciting cap to an enjoyable album.
What sets apart Inconcessus Lux Lucis from other acts worshipping not at the altar of extreme of metal is their capacity to actually bring structure to their songwriting. The songs feel like they tell a story beyond the individual sections housed in them. People often don’t understand my criticisms of structural elements of albums, but a band like Inconcessus Lux Lucis really showcases how we can’t just string random riffs, solos and jams together and call it a song. This is me advocating for some structure and order – maybe I am a trad boomer, after all.
