Depressive Black Metal from United States (Salem, Massachusetts)
Originally, the band was confined to just Texas and their album One Final Action was recorded with both members in the same room. Since then however, the members have separated to different states.
I first came across IIAC in 2008 when they released their first demo, Buried Alive. Calling this demo laughable, pathetic and whiny is being generous. The demo is the embodiment of all the worst DSBM cliches taken to the Nth power. Out of morbid curiosity I decided to check out their debut fall length released later the same year, expecting more cringeworthy, self-pitying dirges, but I was very surprised to find that this album was a largely different beast from the demo. The guitars were sorrowful rather than tiresome and the vocals seemed to come from a place of genuine despair rather than adolescent angst. All this being considered, I was interested to see what IIAC would do next. It was a wait of 12 years before the band would release another full length, a passable demo and reissue of their debut, featuring a worthy cover of a Mutiilation track, being released during the wait and having given this album many listens over the past two years I'd say that the wait was more than worth it.
Onto the music. In terms of instrumentation things are pretty minimalistic, with guitar, bass and drums. For the most part the guitar tone is distorted yet not overly abrasive, having a kind of comforting warmth commonly found in the best DSBM. There are also moments of clean guitar, especially in the intro to most tracks. It is played with greater technical proficiency than is usually expected of the genre, inciting a feeling of reflective melancholy in these passing moments of calm. Indie projects such as Modest Mouse come to mind as well as the softer moments of IIAC's contemporaries Lifelover and Psychonaut 4. Unlike the debut, for pretty much the entirety of the album there is only one guitar track at a time, but with this minimalism comes a greater refinement of focus. For the most part, when distorted, the guitar strums disconsolate, distorted chords, although there is an eruption of tremlo picking in the final track and occasionally, when clean, the guitar picks out achingly melancholic notes from well-placed chords. The bass is much more audible than is the norm for black metal, having a clean and punchy tone, playing driving post-punk influenced melodies reminiscent of the likes of Joy Division and The Fall. Synth ambience briefly appears at the end of Suicide Eyes, creating a moment of much needed serenity. In terms of the drums, things are simple and mostly mid-paced, momentarily breaking into a faster rhythm on the closer, providing a welcome change of pace. Perhaps the predictable drumming is the weakest point of the album, but it's still at least better than the much taken option of using a drum machine for this style of music.
The highlight of this album for me has to be the vocals. On IIAC's debut the vocals stood out to me, but they were somewhat inconsistent, hitting harder at some points than others, but here the best points of the debut are consistently equalled if not surpassed. Agonised, ear-piercing screams assault the listener and make for a truly bone-chilling experience. The only comparable vocalist that comes to mind is Kim Carlsson, although more so his most deranged performance with Life Is Pain than his more subdued approach with Lifelover. One of the most appealing things about this album is that it's incredibly accessible for the genre. The riffs are catchy, easy to follow and should get you nodding your head along to the rhythm. It's also notably shorter than the debut, clocking in at just under 35 minutes, meaning that listeners can dip their feet into the abyss of DSBM without getting overwhelmed. This accessibility doesn't hamper the depressive edge of this album, on the contrary, it allows the despair to worm its way into your head and take refuge. Highlights include Ending Soon Now and Life Never Was (Waste of Skin), the former sporting some of the most gut-wrenching vocals and disheartening chords, and the latter being a fast and cathartic moment of aggression on a mostly mid-priced album, closing the album on a high point. Overall I think this is a mighty album and definitely IIAC's best work to date. I'd recommend checking it out even if DSBM isn't one of your favourite genres, because it has wide appeal and is relatively easy to get in to.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
