We made the decision to continue using the "Default" (we never came up with a unique name for it) iconset because it is more iconic of the project (as it was the original iconset) and, I believe, is much nicer looking than the original Hildon backlight/volume icons. That is just a personal preference though, but that is exactly why there are themes.

If you don't like it, choose a different one, or make your own! If you make and submit an iconset, chances are very high we will add it to the next release if you post a tar/zip here or talk to us about it in IRC.

That said, I had already noticed and been slightly frustrated with that black bar myself, and I may fix it and commit a patch soon, as you are correct, it really doesn't need to be (or look good being) that stark of a contrast.

Actually, if we receive a few more iconsets, we may have to release a separate package (advanced-backlight-icons) containing the extra themes, as they are starting to accumulate.