Progressive Metal Reviews
Progressive Metal Reviews
ICE AGE |
| Ice Age is : Jimmy Pappas : Guitars Arron DiCesare : Bass Josh Pincos : Vocals and Keyboards Hal Aponte : Drums and Percussion The tracks are : 1. Perpetual Child (10:29) 2. Sleepwalker (5:24) 3. Join (5:55) 4. Spare Chicken Parts (Instrumental) (8:50) 5. Because Of You (5:32) 6. The Bottom Line (4:44) 7. Ice Age (11:08) 8. One Look Away (5:40) 9. Miles To Go (5:01) 10. To Say Goodbye (11:31): Part I: Worthless Words (Instrumental) (3:13) Part II: On Our Way (8:18) 
ICE AGE was formed in February of 1993 by Jimmy, Josh and drummer Hal Aponte. Hal, formerly with Turbo Music Recording artist Cold Steel (a successful New York based prog/thrash band) comments, “ICE AGE represents a style of music that has no set format or boundaries. We capture the moment when we compose a song, and we write according to how we’re feeling - it’s important for us to play with heart.” T he band spent the next few years writing, recording and performing original material, all the while developing their unique style and sound. ICE AGE has played numerous shows all over the New York/Metropolitan area and the East Coast in general (Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia), including gigs at the famous CBGB’s, the Limelight Club, and the Rock’ N Roll Cafe of Bleeker Street, to name a few. The band’s live shows are known for their impressive musicianship, high energy, and their original presentation of visuals which are used to complement the music. The opening track is 'Perpetual Child', an excellent track with some great guitar and keyboards. The guitar work at times is fairly heavy, but still retains a lovely melodic quality. The vocals from Josh are superb, powerful and full of emotion. This track has a catchy melody and chorus and throughout it's entire length there are some nice changes in direction, mood and tempo. The next track is 'Sleepwalker', another excellent track with once again a catchy chorus. The musicianship on this album is just superb with some superb guitar and keyboards. The third track 'Join', another track with a catchy chorus and melody. The next track 'Spare Chicken Parts', is an instrumental that is forever changing direction. There is some superb guitar and keyboards work and at times there is a slight oriental flavour to it. Later on there is a very good drum solo and a quotation from the film Space Oddysey 2001 "Open the pod doors Hal". The drummers name happens to be Hal as well. 'Because Of You', is a pleasant track with some superb guitar and keyboards and is another track with a catchy melody (sorry to keep repeating this, but most of the tracks on this album do have catchy melodies and chorus's). I love the guitar sound on this track. The sixth track 'The Bottom Line', starts off orchestrally before the guitar some in quite mellow at first before getting slightly heavier. When the vocals come in the guitar becomes more intricate and then gets heavier when the chorus comes along. There's an excellent guitar solo and the chorus is very catchy. The next track 'Ice Age', is one of ny favourite tracks and starts off with some atmospheric sounds followed by some nice keyboards, but still retaining a nice atmospheric quality. There's also some smpled voices which are used to good effect and then there's a change in direction and some heavier guitar comes in, there's a superb keyboard sequence and some intricate guitar. The vocals once again are superb being powerful and emotional. Then there's some more superb keybaords and guitar. 'One Look Away', this is a lovely track that starts off fairly mellow with some nice piano and keyboards. Nice vocals, and the music gets a bit heavier during the chorus. This is quite an emotional track and features some fine guitar work. The ninth track 'Miles To Go', starts off with some fine guitar work followed soon after by the band. The vocals on this track have more of a raw edge to them. There's a very nice keyboard solo and once again this is anothe r track with a catchy chorus. The final track 'To Say Goodbye' is split into two parts, Part I 'Worthless Words' is an excellent instrumental with some fine piano and guitar work changing direction constantly throughout it's entire length of just over 3 minutes. Part II 'On Our Way', carries on the same theme as it's predecessor with some nice paino and guitar work, the music then changes direction and gets a bit heavier with some excellent riffs. Once again, this is another track with a catchy melody and chorus and there's many changes in direction, mood and tempo. The Great Divide is an outstanding debut album from Ice Age showing the bands music to be progressive, metallic, melodic and dramaticl. These are some of the words that come to mind when listening to this album. Ice Age's influences range from Deep Purple and Black Sabbath to the likes of Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd, and Kansas, to name a few. But for me their overall sound comes over sounding in a similar vein to that of Dream Theater. But I think that is due to the outstanding musicianship of the band and their technical ability to write great songs with catchy melodies, that grabs your attention and gets you coming back for more. This is a band with a very bright future ahead of them, and I can't wait for the next album. The Great Divide is released by Magna Carta (MA-9028-2) Magna Carta, 208 E. 51st St. Suite 1820, New York, N.Y. 10022 Website http://www.magnacarta.net/ Ice Age Website :http://www.ice-age.com |
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Liberation
Ice Age |
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For a second I'm thinking this is a modern day Styx or something… but right off, well first of all it's not, but the similarities to that arena-bound big band with the heightened theatrical movements and sudden tempo changes and redirected harmonies and… well, Progressive instincts abound on "Liberation," one which comes across as just that, very free and fluidly performed. True instrumental illumination shines through from the opening moments of the eight plus minute opener, "The Lhasa Road (No Surrender)" and I believe I've already heard fourteen different stanzas all within the first three minutes! Based upon the ongoing concern with the Tibetan / Chinese conflict, this one's got a multitude of originating points all darting in and out, slowly, quickly, penetrating preconception for what a typically Progressive Rock music is supposed to lead-for me, that would mean holding my interest for about two-tenths of a second and then, next… I'm totally engrossed in this opening track though, thematically and musically, a quarter album's worth for any lesser band. They're virtuosity prevails mightily, their technical prowess in fine working order-and free-thinking quickly moves to the head of the class here as my very thoughts have apparently been prearranged by a band that's sought to set a new standard for inspired and imaginative songwriting. Now some two years removed from their "The Great Divide" debut, they've moved forward, not leaped by any means but where this might be "Liberation" today, there was evidence of subtle constraint yesterday. Again I'm amazed at the attention not only to detail but in changing the face of the music, additionally changing tempos and a strength in diversity that suggests a great deal of effort went into crafting these songs into wholly unique and highly mobile pieces of musical art. "A Thousand Years" is aesthetically pleasing with its lighter melodies and atmospheric properties, majestically accurate to exactly what we've come to expect from past masters as a Styx or Marillion. They don't quickly get caught in a web of their own instrumentation in order to throw a guise over the face of the full song-there's no sacrificing here, not on the talent level, technical complexity and epic simplicity-"When You're Ready," "The Guardian of Forever," which features some interstellar highlights to support a mighty rift of guitar riffing before bowing out gracefully to the melody of the song and again their changing face-we're witnessing the evolving of a band right in the middle of their album! This is one of their finest moments-seven of them actually but who's counting? "Liberation" is thought provoking, sincere and intuitive all the while leaving open the flood gates for an outpouring of lyrical stimulus and structural dynamics rarely seen even in the vast expanse of such a genre as theirs, Ice Age, standing alone, "Liberated," and free as the wind, and mighty as the approaching storm. Liberation is
released by Magna Carta Review by Vinnie
Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] |