Contempt of the Light - In the Darkest of Times Review

From all subgenres of Metal, Black Metal for sure is the one which has evolved the most. From a bunch of lousy, noisy, and poorly played – of course, with honorable exceptions – bands and albums, the subgenre has become in an exciting and extremely technical and complex music effort dedicated to translate into music all human emotions. An effort that for all cirscumstances in our society is a very hard task. Bands aren’t only dedicated to the master of darkeness, but to all darkness that exists in this sad and loneley and pathetic little world we live in. As Metal is a musical movement before being a social movement, music is the first expression that bands follow. Not the opposite. The opposite was meant to be punk, but I guess only Hardcore now dedicates to the social aspects of life.

I said all that because that’s the first impression that’s got on me after listening to Contempt of the Light “In the Darkest of Times,” is that of an album that inpires all those reasonings. “In the Darkest of Times” achieves a very hard outcome which is to be dark and gloomy and at the same time complex and intricate. As in any Metal effort, bands have to manage and carefully bounce the doses of emotion and aggression, of melody and wraith, of sweet and fury. Of course, the balance of the scales must be on the side of the gloomy and dark, otherwise it’s not Metal. It’s something else.

The album is fired up by the intro “Inferno of Plague and Pestilence” which prepares the mood for “Serpent’s Tongue” whose different drumming calls the eye. The fan feels that something wicked is going on and that the album will be good as hell – of course! Musicwise, the guitars in all the album were written to give the idea of a continuum. I mean, the riffing is plyed in order to be a continous pounding and mesmerizing fource brought upon the heads of the fans. In fact, Contempt of the Light don’t build their music up relying on riffing, but moreover on chordly riffing. Following track “Sworn to Eternity” adds another feature to Contempt of the Light mix that is the intense change of tempo and the creative drumming for that reason. It’s not only the traditional breakdowns, but also relentless stops and goes into the songs that makes them very interesting to follow. Things get a little faster in “The Black Flame” and “The Moonlight’s Bane” two songs where heavyness and speed walk hand by hand.

Contempt of the Light “In the Darkest of Times” proves that Black Metal is in constant evolution.

Contempt of the Light “In the Darkest of Times” will be released on July 2nd via Silent Watcher Records.

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