AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LUX INCERTA — “DECAY & AGONY”

Last month the Parisian band Lux Incerta, whose name is a Latin expression which describes the moment light succumbs to darkness, released their first album in a decade via the Klonosphere label. Three years in the making, Dark Odyssey carries forward the influences that shaped the group’s genesis, which owed a debt to such bands as Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Cathedral, but brings into play other genre ingredients as well, including prog, death, and post-black metal.

Thematically, the band built the new album around a concept that suggests a personal and exploratory journey into the depths of oneself, “on the border between darkness and light, between joy and sadness, life, and death”, to quote the words of the band. Lux Incerta have further commented: “It’s very special for us, and it takes on a fuller meaning since one of our own bandmates, Michel ‘Shervine’ Hejazy passed away a few weeks before hitting the studio. This album is dedicated to his memory.” And the album includes a couple of solos that Shervine recorded during the pre-production phase.

Dark Odyssey a powerful album, heavy in its emotional impact as well as its sound, and that’s evident from the song that’s the subject of a video we’re premiering today: “Decay & Agony“.

The music in the song is an enthralling and commanding experience. Slow and introspective at first, it combines the wistful and mesmerizing ring of the guitar and the hard punch of the drums. But soon enough the song becomes massively heavier through the growl of the lumbering chords and somber vocals that begin in depths and rise to haunting wails.

The vocals are soul-stirring throughout the song in both their manifestations — both heart-felt song and savage growls. The instrumentation becomes more savage as well, with the bass rumbling, the drums accelerating into blasting fusillades, and the guitars roiling and writhing, raking and rising. The passion in the music burns like an ignited bonfire of torment, but becomes softer and more somber again, albeit with a head-moving beat beneath it, and the accompaniment of grim spoken words that turn to snarls.

The music catches fire once more, becoming electrifying in its channeling of turbulence and turmoil, and jolts and jabs with adrenaline-triggering intensity as the charismatic vocals weave their spell again. Mournful violin strings accompany the music as the song reaches its heartbreaking conclusion.

The accompanying video, shot in black and white and directed and edited by Julien Metternich, is beautifully made. It intersperses scenes of the band performing with a narrative that serves as a metaphor – whose meaning we’ll let you deduce for yourselves:

Dark Odyssey was produced by Fabien Devaux (Step in Fluid), and it’s available for order from the Klonosphere label.

ORDER THE ALBUM:
https://orcd.co/lux-incerta-dark-odyssey

LUX INCERTA LINKS:
https://luxincerta.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/LuxIncertaband
https://www.instagram.com/luxincerta
https://luxincerta.com/