(Description by J. Campbell)
Ill Omen is the solo project of the reclusive and mysterious Australian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter known as IV (also recognized for his work in bands such as Nazxul and Temple Nightside as well as a number of other solitary musical endeavors). In recent years, IV has produced a series of progressively developed demo recordings, EPs, and one prior full-length under the name Ill Omen, gradually chiseling and molding the sound of Ill Omen until it has assumed its present'stature. With this second album, 'Enthroning the Bonds of Abhorrence,' IV has fully defined his supreme approach to the music of Ill Omen. The music here is predominantly mid-paced and expansive and laced with passages both heavily melancholic and misanthropic. Through the 11 tracks on this album, IV leads the listener into sprawling and cavernous dept's. Ill Omen's sound, built upon rich layered walls of shimmering guitars, is lucid and poignant, never seeming contrived or overly dramatic. Anchored by the unassuming, but formidably executed percussion and bass and adorned with the haunting rasp of IV's vocals, the songs sadly march toward the ruinous splendor of oblivion. It is worth noting that BR of Grave Upheaval completed the mastering of this album and the rich textural dept's achieved in this recording are due, in part, to the atmospheric haze of the production. The visionary art of Alex Brown was selected to impart the visual aesthetic accompaniment to this haunting masterpiece, and the result is magnificent.
