Review by Fernando on May 13, 2024.

The UK has always been a centrepoint for music, and of course, it was the birthplace of heavy metal and has been the home of some of the most definitive metal bands of all time; Black Sabbath, Motörhead and Iron Maiden. And the British isles can also claim the first wave of black metal with Venom and the album that gave the sub genre its name. Nowadays, the UK seems to have a very solid and diverse black metal scene that boasts a myriad of bands that seems to be taking black metal into unique directions, with a trademarked British metal influence. Enter Inconcessus Lux Lucis from Manchester, the band has existed for quite some time, and while they don’t have a large catalog, they play the long game of quality over quantity, which brings me to their third album, Temples Colliding In Fire, released via I, Voidhanger Records.

Before going into this album proper, it’s important to describe ILL’s music, as they’re a fairly underrated band that in my opinion deserves more attention. They definitely play black metal on the more orthodox side while also displaying some strong riffing and complex melodies within long compositions. Their preceding album, 2017’s The Crowning Quietus displayed all those characteristics which the band then continued in a 4-way split, and while the gap between their last full-length and this new one was considerably long, as soon as I pressed play, I realized how well worth the wait this record was.

All the band’s strongest qualities are still very much present, but for this record the band decided to lean into the classicism of heavy metal, as this is their most complex and melodic record yet, but they still have enough Satanic grit and a decidedly punk attitude to keep the music within the realms of black metal. The album opens with a melodically triumphant instrumental track which serves as an excellent preamble to ‘I Am The Crooked Blade’ which complements that intro with pummeling aggression, and as the album continues, you’ll be taken on a myriad of sonic directions and detours, from epic soloing, to punkish thrashing and more some sinister riffing and even groove-oriented bass lines, and in some tracks, like lead single and title track and the song ‘Revenge Of The Other God’, you’ll hear all of those elements and more. On a technical level this album’s style and various elements would sound disjointed and messy, but ILL makes it work, despite how wildly eclectic and chaotic the music is, this is an extremely cohesive and well put together record. The production in particular by the band, their collaborator Guillaume Martin and the legendary Tore Stjerna gives the record that classic heavy metal polish where you can hear every single individual instrument, while also keeping the raw grit of the performances. The guitar work that’s shared by all the band and the aforementioned Guillaume Martin is of course the main instrument alongside William Jackson’s demonic growls, and they certainly make it the standout instrument, and my favorite aspect of the guitars here is how both the rhythm riffs have as much importance as the solos, and with the excellent production, all the guitars have room to breath without overpowering the leads with the rhythm. The same principle is applied to Alexander James’ masterful bass lines and Jackson’s drumming. In short, not only are the performances amazing, but the production really makes it pop in a way that some black metal records don’t really do.

Usually whenever a record floors me I try to sit with it and listen to it again in detail to see if there were some flaws I missed or if the initial shock and awe diminishes, but that really wasn’t the case. Inconcessus Lux Lucis pulled all their stops, held nothing back, and the end result speaks for itself. This is a masterwork of a record I can safely call it a top contender for album of the year.

Rating: 10 out of 10