Inconcessus Lux Lucis - Temples Colliding in Fire (2024)

4★

If you’re familiar with blackened heavy metal, a certain Slovakian band by the name of Malokarpatan might come to mind. Take what Malokarpatan does and instead of a Mercyful Fate influence, replace it with Iron Maiden – that’s essentially this new I.L.L. album in a nutshell. It has all the signature fury of black metal – the blastbeat drumming, the more abrasive vocals, and a more sinister vibe all around – but with the melody and riffs of traditional heavy metal. Not to confuse this with melodic black metal, as that is a different genre entirely, but it does have a lot of those trademarks as well. I think it can be a struggle sometimes to fuse these two genres together, as is very evident in past I.L.L. releases, but with Temples, I find the songwriting so graceful and almost organic to where it feels like they’ve really hit the mark with this one. If you like any of the abovementioned styles or want some evil heavy metal, look no further.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “I Am the Crooked Blade,” “Revenge of the Other God”

FOR FANS OF: Iron Maiden, Negative Plane, Malokarpatan

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Originally published in Aug. '24 (Issue No. 4)