ICE WAR "Manifest Destiny"
ICE WAR
“Manifest Destiny”
The self-titled debut from Ice War
was old-fashioned, clunky and awkward sounding heavy metal that
sounded like came from 1980 in a time capsule…and it worked! The
awkwardness was strangely endearing and the songs, despite noticeable
flaws, worked. Now we have the follow up “Manifest Destiny”…is
it more of the same?
In many ways,
yes, but unfortunately the clunkiness here is just not as tolerable
or endearing. The very rough and vaguely out of tune vocals of Jo
Capitalicide didn’t hurt the debut that badly. Here they are often
just plain bad to a level that can’t be overcome. First three
tracks made me cringe with Jo’s tuneless vocals and ham-fisted
vocal lines. “I Would Die For You” is the lowpoint…almost
unlistenable, with guitar notes that seem to be deliberately out of
key. The production is not too different from the debut, but seems
even tinnier and thinner sounding.
The first half is a wash, but things
recover in the back half of the album. “Light Shine On” is a
good early NWOBHM type rocker and Jo’s singing is tolerable. “Ride
On” is more of the same and last track “The Labyrinth” ends
things on a good note, although I would never call Ice War a killer
band. The second half is in the vein of the debut whereas on the
first half, Jo seems to be almost deliberately making things sound
out of whack and amateurish.
The result? “Manifest Destiny”
is an average trad metal album, but you have to be patient to find
the good stuff. I definitely prefer the debut to this.
https://soundcloud.com/dying-victims-productions/ice-war-no-way-of-turning-back
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