Sensory Records

Ice Age, Waves Of Loss And Power (Sensory 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

New York progressive metal band Ice Age wake the sleeping giant with Waves Of Loss And Power.

Ice Age began all the way back in 1991 as an instrumental band called Monolith. In 1999, now known as Ice Age, they released their first album, The Great Divide, followed by their second long-player the very next year, Liberation. Things began to slow on the recording front after that and, other than a self-titled EP in 2004, it was radio silence for the band as Ice Age. In 2015, the reformation occurred, and now fans can hear new music with Waves Of Loss And Power. The band is Josh Pincus (vocals, keys), Jimmy Pappas (guitar), Hal Aponte (drums), and Doug Odell (bass).

As with most progressive rock and metal, the songs on the new album are mainly presented in the long form, although three of the eight dip into radio length. As an example of what to expect, consider “The Needle’s Eye,” the first song that cracks the egg with high energy and complex constructions. The music is a little heavier than I expected, laying more on the side of, say, Queensÿche, than Kansas. The vocals are melodic and beautifully rendered. As we do expect in this kind of music, the musicianship is perfect, crisp, and sharp. There is a bewildering keyboard solo and tasty lead guitar work as well. It is exceptionally well done, as is all the music on the record.

Fans of Ice Age will be thrilled by the way the music picks up on earlier work. For example, “Perpetual Child, Part II: Forever” continues the song began on the first record, while “To Say Goodbye, Part IV: Remembrance” and “To Say Goodbye, Part V: Water Child” extended the saga from both the earlier long-players. If you like your prog on the heavy side, then this album is for you. Highly recommended.

Waves Of Loss And Power is out on Friday, March 10th through Sensory Records. Find it at the links below.

Band photo by Roy Somech.

Links.

Ice Age website, http://www.ice-age.com/

Bandcamp, https://lasersedge.bandcamp.com/album/waves-of-loss-and-power

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/IceAgeProgBand/

Sensory Records, https://www.lasercd.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Ice Age, Waves Of Loss And Power (Sensory 2023)

Aziola Cry, The Ironic Divide (Sensory Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

Chicago instrumental metal trio Aziola Cry release their first album in twelve years, The Ironic Divide.

The band is Jason Blake (Warr guitar), Mike Milaniak (guitar), and Tommy Murray (drums). That looks like two guitars and drums, which might lead us down the path of thinking that the sound will be a little hollow. Not at all. For one thing, Jason Blake is playing a Warr guitar which has a huge range (do a quick internet search on the instrument to find out how amazing it is), and besides that, the compositions themselves are designed to fill your ears with layers of sound and depths of meaning.

There is a story the musicians are working with, too, and it helps to know it going in because there is no narrative vocal. “The forty-eight-minute album features four songs which tell the story of one person’s final descent. There are two types of people in this world. There are those who do good for others and make a positive contribution to society in some way. Then, there are those who do evil and hurt fellow humans. There is no rationale behind their behavior. They are cowards. This is their story.”

Naturally, the music is guitar heavy, driven by riffs and vastly enriched through the expansion of the instruments in an impressive variety of approaches and applications. The longest piece is the title track at twenty one minutes, and the others are hefty as well. For me, though, I took it all in as one work rather than trying to assemble separated meanings or looking at it like a track-by-track chronology.

The music is ambitious and there is no mistaking this for something other than a metal album. Instrumental heavy metal has always fascinated me and I find it to be one of the best ways to imbibe in the form. This is my first pass at Aziola Cry and I am off now to listen to the earlier albums. You can concentrate on this music intently or have it instead surround you as part of your environment. Either way, it will soak in. Recommended.

The Ironic Divide hits the streets on March 26th in CD digipak or digital forms.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://lasersedge.bandcamp.com/album/the-ironic-divide

Website, https://www.aziolacry.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/aziolacrymusic

Label, https://www.lasercd.com/cd/ironic-divide-preorder

Aziola Cry, The Ironic Divide (Sensory Records 2021)