Illicit Contempt – Illicit Contempt
Canada
Junkie And Proud Label
Illicit Contempt are a very new black metal project hailing from western Canada. Their sound is reminiscent of all the good parts of second wave Norwegian black metal. Actual evil riffs evolved from their first wave counterparts. No nonsense, no gimmicks, just straight to the point black metal and as an added bonus, a very rare example of keyboards executed properly within this genre. This eponymous debut album is a display of musicians who are well versed in the genre they are playing, thus making a well-executed release. Displaying its influences concisely without being a blatant rip off can be a very difficult feat when playing traditional second wave black metal.
So, what is my first response to hearing this album? That there is not enough black metal of this vein coming out these days. The slight sloppiness to the drumming adds character to the atmosphere that this genre requires in order to not sound generic. Overall, truly a breath of fresh air, and honestly given me a greater appreciation to organs in black metal, very much reminding me of early Rotting Christ and Mystifier.
The attitude of this album is a massive ‘fuck you’ to the listener. It gets in your face with those punk beat segments, the lo-fi production gives it a very old-school ritualistic brand of evil. And most importantly, this shit has riffs. If there’s no riffs, what is even the point? Black metal cannot rely on atmosphere and mysticism alone.
The final track “Goat of the Dead Wood Forest” is very doomy cross between “Panzerfaust” era Darkthrone, and Beherit’s “Drawing Down the Moon” making this song stand out when you sprinkle in the dungeon-synth organs. The atonal simplistic riffing style is proof you do not need to over complicate things with black metal. Sometimes the most minimalist riff can produce the most demonic sound, tying the entire song together.
Another example of effective simplicity would be the main riff in Decadence Descends, literally being only 2 different power chords, very much sounding similar to Beastcraft’s “Angel of the Abyss”. This band has a lot of promise, and they must be checked out by anyone who is into old school black metal. (AR)