One of the hidden gems of the UK extreme metal scene, Lychgate continues to push their arcane darkness into higher realms of complex composition and dizzying flourishes of guitar and pipe organ. “The Contagion In Nine Steps” showcases the band in top form, delivering cryptic tendrils of avant-garde and progressive voicings to a base of other-worldly black metal. The tones of a towering pipe organ which catapulted “An Antidote for the Glass Pill” into many listeners hands returns with greater refinement and purpose, and the songs themselves, while still enigmatic and nigh impenetrable in their dark obfuscation, draw the listener in much more efficiently to drive them deeper into the album's thematic maze.
