Ice Ages

There are not many men who can claim not only to be the inventor of a genre, but to be the sole contributor and pioneer as well. One such man is Richard Lederer, the brains behind such bands as Summoning and DVKE (if you don't already know then don't bother asking what that's meant to stand for! Seriously, there isn't enough room on the page!). Possibly his most ambitious band in terms of musical boundaries is Ice Ages; a self proclaimed 'Melodic Industrial Darkwave' band. When they released their debut 'The Killing Emptiness' 8 years ago, their unique brand of electronic industrial music shocked the world while gaining an incredibly large fan base. Since the revolutionary debut's release in 2000, the dedicated fan following which formed as a result of the record lay waiting for new music from the band. It never came…until now…

Before we go any further I feel I ought to warn you of something...I have absolutely no knowledge of this genre of music. I have never been into drum and bass and although I am told that this is something different, well…let's see shall we?!

The intro is awesome. There is no need to go into much further detail. It begins with a typically industrial sounding bass beat/sound effect which turns into a more regular bass line with some sort of metal being banged together background. Throughout the three and a half minutes that this introduction continues for, we see parts and effects come and go to excess. This is the definition of cool! It leaves me with high expectations to say the least, but it is always a bad idea to get your hopes up as I discover as soon as I begin to listen to the second track…the introduction was not an introduction in the common sense of the concept. This introduction was pretty much a taster for what is to come in the rest of the album. Now, don't mistake me here, I really enjoyed the launching track here, but as an introduction not a style of music. As I slowly work my way through the tracks I realise that, not surprisingly, the album is exactly what it says on the tin, a dark and atmospheric form of Darkwave; a sort of drum and bass for metalheads. Something you might find in a gothic night club! There is one difference though. However hard I try, and it goes against all of my aspersions towards electronic music, I really like this stuff. It must be the powerful industrial element to the music, or maybe it's the somewhat disconcerting vocals, but it makes for some damn good listening I'll tell you that!

Overall...this album is strange. Very strange. In fact, unlike anything I've heard before! (Considering that, to my knowledge, they are the only band to have developed this distinct breed of music, the fact that they don't sound much like anything else may not be a big surprise!) As I explained before, this is drum and bass for metalheads, a thing that I never knew existed and, while I may not go away and listen to it constantly, I find myself glad to have found Ice Ages and their odd music. Music which finds a way to get inside your body without so much as a hint of warning! Definitely an album for Ice Ages fans, Richard Lederer fans in general but also for anyone who feels like hearing something a little different, something a tad unconventional.