THE CROSSING, the second album from Galway progressive metallers Ilenkus, containing ‘Over The Fire, Under The Smoke’, the video for which has gone viral on YouTube, is unleashed this weekend. Containing five songs, ranging from five to 10 minutes in length, it features a variety of moods, tones, pace, and textures.
Opener ‘Be A Weapon’ begins with subtle, ominous, guitar atmospherics, reminiscent of 17 Seconds-era The Cure, before exploding into full-blooded modern metal, and concluding with spindly, appregiated, guitar - again atmospheric, but in a very different vein to how the song began.
“We have three alternating lead singers and guitar players, and all three of us write the lyrics, so the sound and atmosphere on each track can be completely different,” says Ilenkus guitarist Josh Guyett. “But our lyrics definitely have a theme; an idea we touch on a lot is relinquishing the illusion of control.”
‘Over The Fire, Under The Smoke’ switches between metallic high drama and passages of mantra like bliss, showing how the quiet/loud dynamic does not have to mean power ballads.
The title track displays more of these qualities, opening with guitar passages balance the brooding and doom laden with psychedelic post-rock. This builds throughout the song’s opening three minuets, before erupting into tortured screams and epic, grandstanding chords, which itself twists into Seasons In The Abyss style riffs. A show-stealer.
The Crossing contains a diversity of sound and feel, while remaining focused and consistent. Ilenkus are not afraid to let imagination and creative juices flow, showing the future of Irish metal is in good hands.
Ilenkus launch The Crossing in the Róisín Dubh this Saturday (September 20 ) at 9pm. Admission is €5. For more information see www.roisindubh.net
