“Behind the pain inside our mind, we are all one.”
Scottish prog metal quintet Ihlo are finally back, returning to cement their place in the UK’s progressive music scene. In an ever-filling ocean of djent-adjacent prog metal acts, Ihlo’s Legacy has a difficult task ahead of it – to stand out from an ultra-saturated scene that is content to retread the same djenty ground again and again. While it’s not without its missteps, I am thrilled to say that Legacy stands apart from Ihlo’s contemporaries, and delivers a unique vision of modern prog metal that strives for tight, unpretentious songwriting without sacrificing the inherent nerdiness that makes progressive music special.
Album opener “Wraith” acts as a declaration of intent for the project as a whole. A landscape of electronics give way to down-tuned guitars and emotional vocals that combine to make a song that is accessible despite its multilayered instrumentals. An explosive solo by guitarist Phil Monro slices across the sonic landscape with a calculated chaos before giving way to a haunting synth line that paints an image of the album to come.
Lead single “Empire” is another early highlight of the record, delivering an emotional punch through syncopated riffs and a vocal performance that marries power with a passionate vulnerability that few singers in the prog metal space would dare to match. “Empire” is perhaps the best example of Ihlo’s greatest strength – an unwavering commitment to making every section as catchy as possible. Complex riffs remain understandable, and vocal melodies are driven more by elegant simplicity than vocal acrobatics, leading to songs where every section delivers something to be hummed hours after you last heard it.
As well as the off-kilter riffing and soaring vocal melodies that litter Legacy’s tracklist, Ihlo also show off an expertly curated catalogue of electronics. Atmospheric pads beg you to fall into the cracks and crevices of the soundscapes they create, and blistering leads fly above clanking detuned riffs. It’s clear that a tremendous amount of care has been taken throughout Legacy to ensure that the keyboards are just as integral to the experience as the drums, guitars, or vocals.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in “Storm“, a transitional piece that picks up in the afterglow of Legacy’s first act. This brief piece isn’t just an interlude, though, providing a digital soundscape that sounds like a memory being fed through a thick layer of forgetful fog. Vocalist Andy Robison’s tender delivery adds to the melancholy of a time you can’t quite remember, as instruments slowly pile in, adding momentum to a song that acts as a beautiful lead-in to the back-half of the record.
Unfortunately, not every track on Legacy is a smash hit. While walking their tightrope of minimalist, accessible djent, Ihlo inevitably slips, on occasion straying too deeply into simplicity, and creating songs that feel transparent or one-dimensional. The album’s final single, “Mute“, is perhaps the best example of this. It constantly struggles to warrant its eight minute runtime, dragging the momentum of the record to a near-halt before the excellent “Cenotaph” kicks in and defibrillates it back to life. Other tracks that struggle to strike the right balance are dotted throughout, too. “Replica” feels like an immediate retread of “Wraith“, while Haar delivers some thrills but struggles to provide much new to an album that’s been on for 45 minutes by the time that you hear it.
Luckily, the performances remain stellar throughout Legacy, even when the songwriting misses the mark. While Ihlo’s first project, Union, was a passionate breath of fresh air, an aura of amateurness snuck through its raw energy. There is no hint of amateur musicianship on Legacy. Every riff, every melody, every production choice, is thoughtful, mature and performed excellently. There are dozens of moments, even on Legacy’s weakest tracks, where vocalist Andy Robison pushes me back in my seat with a performance that has me compulsively googling ‘Ihlo UK tour dates’. Album closer “Signals” is a vocal highlight amongst an album of vocal highlights, bringing the record home with a vulnerability and strength that gets into the emotional heart of the track and the listener.
Legacy is at its best when its songwriting is transparent in a way that speaks not to a shallowness, but to an understanding of the perfect amount of complexity needed to sweep the listener away into an airy, trance-like state. How much the record resonates with you will depend entirely on how many times you believe Ihlo has managed to pull this magic trick off, and how many times you feel they’ve stumbled.
As it stands, Ihlo’s sophomore album is a mission statement from a future pillar of the UK’s progressive metal scene – an act that walks the tightrope between complexity and simplicity, and attempts, often successfully, to balance the two. Legacy certainly struggles under the weight of its 69-minute runtime, but it still manages to deliver a unique take on djent-adjacent prog, one that is as catchy as it is technical, as emotional as it is calculated.
8/10
Legacy releases on August 29th via Burning Shed.