Artist: Ilenkus
Title: Rule by Thieves
Type: Album
Label: Savour Your Scene Records

I’d not heard of Ilenkus before, so it was a journey into the unknown as I put “Rule by Thieves” onto the cd player. Straightaway I latched on to it as something interesting. Heavy and loud with subtlety, good riffage and even a suggestion of Post Metal characterise “The Jig”, which opens up the album. Ilenkus are from the Republic of Ireland and have been compared to Mastodon, Tool, Godflesh, Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch. I’d like to add Atrox to the list.

There’s something eccentric about all of this, but it’s within a framework. “Kleptocracy” is expansive and funky. There are several things going on all at once – a tricky and engaging riff, urgency, a manic vocalist and technicality galore. I love the colour and openness. The guitar pattern turns intriguingly jazzy, as if Ephel Duath have just joined Atrox for a jam session. Great stuff. “Dr Jekyl” then has the hallmarks of more mainstream melodic Metal. The driving force has an almost mystical element to it. These guys know how to construct a song, so much so that it borders on rather than being all-out experimental. “Dr Jekyl” is harsh, but also exhilarating and seductive in a truly Metal way. Mysterious electronic noises circle overhead. This is “Phoenix”, which then rises via a quiet progressive passage to a harsh and technical section with distant Hardcore screaming. There are no obvious rules, certainly in regard to style, and it’s all the better for it. The same vocals can be found on “Pompeii (The Butcher)”, another hard-hitting, riff-laden track. The extreme harshness gives way to a more relaxed technically intricate passage before the violent mayhem returns.

“Cerebral Anomaly” follows. There’s a kind of insanity in the air, as solid and interesting rhythm lines are punctuated by fury and those manic vocals. Again it’s technical and tight throughout. Like “Pompeii (The Butcher)”, pauses for breath with a soft drum section before setting off again in a slightly different direction. It’s harsh but this time there’s more feeling. The end is the sound of rain. Madness quickly reappears in the form of the appropriately titled “Mayhem”. Harsh, progressive, irregular and with the ring of Mathcore .. that’s before the jazz groove and the return to all that Metal complexity. This is not for those who like their rhythm lines to be straight or peaceful. An interesting groove starts “Great Divide”. The vocalist moans hauntingly but as ever the frame hardens and the customary disharmonious riot takes place. From the ashes arises a mellow guitar and vocal line. Ah, relaxation .. but in its controlled way it becomes darker and Post-Metal orientated. The vocalist screams in anguish, the chords have majestic authority without over-exaggeration, and it descends into silence. It doesn’t end there of course and a “secret” track, not a favourite feature of mine, returns in the form of distorted electronic sounds, summing up in a bizarre way the psychological trauma which has been hinted at all along.

It’s refreshing to hear such an amalgam of styles thrown together like ingredients in an exotic dish. What makes this work so effective is the control. “Rule by Thieves” is tight and thanks to all its variations, remains interesting and powerful throughout.

www.myspace.com/ilenkus
www.savouryourscene.co.uk

(8/10 Andrew Doherty)