Opening track "Squares Inside Squares" come pummeling out of the speakers with bulldozing intensity, the riffing is bass-heavy and pulverizing and the hollering vocals are charismatic. What got my bones shaking though is the bluesy lead guitar work, it spirals and soars to majestic peaks and is exceptionally well delivered, make no mistake this is atmospheric Stoner Doom pushed into overdrive. They quickly do the unexpected with the intro section to the second track "Spellpouch", its a medieval folk piece of music that is interrupted from time to time with sonic blasts of orgasmic, sludge and yet melodic power-chords. Its a strange kind of progressive, epic doom that totally goes against the grain of generic Doom Metal and its magical and unique. "Meddoe" is shorter and more psychedelic, starting slowly with more folkie elements in the 70's folk-rock vein and its also incredibly atmospheric with a outer-worldly vocal sound that comes straight down from the cosmos. One of the highlights of the album is up next with "Hexagon Riders", at first it sounds like a doom version of King Crimson, it has a similar vibe to "21st Century Schizoid Man" and just like Fripp & Co had that huge orchestrated sound that was bigger than the sum of the parts, Ice Dragon also achieve that same larger than life sound. This is a killer Space Rock meets apocalyptic kind of doom that is made even more trippy with a atmospheric effect that is like wind spiraling between the speakers, freaky and hypnotic.
Equally as impressive is "The Watcher" that churns along with a Electric Wizard technique but only far more within the realms of Space Rock, the song is a monolithic creeping mass of foreboding, gritty psychedelic atmosphere enhanced by the buzzing, feed-backing guitar and synth noise. "Alucard" is a slow to mid-tempo groove-driven rocker that oscillates and quakes, the vocals also get a extra injection of aggression in the tune, another great song. "Winged Prophet" begins with more acoustic melancholy in the medieval vein, this track strikes me as the weakest track of the bunch as over the course of 5 minutes, it never quite gets off the ground and lacks the dynamics through the absence of any heavy parts but its still a nice interlude. The final track is the 11 minute "Aquageddon", this monster of a tune captures everything that Ice Dragon are good at and blends it into a epic piece of well constructed and ambitious music. "Aquageddon" builds in its doominess and mood, forever climbing in intensity and atmosphere that spirals to its mesmerizing conclusion, again it heads off into the heavens (into Space Rock territory) and it is methodical in its arrangement. Ice Dragon have produced a album here that can really reach and impress a wide group of listeners, it has the doom, the space rock vibe, folkie interludes and a progressive rock edge making it a very unique recording. This is another album you must download now, it has so much going for it, its a no-brainer...get it!! 9/10
The Burl, The Earth, The Aether | Ice Dragon
Ice Dragon Official
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