Ice Dragon
The Burl, The Earth, The Aether
I seem to be going through a bit of a Metal phase at the moment, getting back into some doomy slabs of tidal wave sized riffing and gruff axe-wielding vocals. The Sloath album has been begging for a post of it's own because its a monumental, towering breaker of blackened drone - but i will save that for its own moment. For now I want to present Boston, MA based Ice Dragon and their pay-what-you-want album The Burl, The Earth, The Aether
The album charges out of the speakers riding a tapestry of Sabbath, Sleep, Cream, and Electric Wizard nostalgia - it's mix of the modern and thrownback - to a time past the 60's, way beyond; a time when bull horns heralded war and a shining blade signalled death or glory. See, I told you I was getting deep into it. First track is a fist pumpingly huge stadium filling anthem - as are several others including my current favourite Hexagon Riders that I embedded up there, which employs the wind as an instrument about 4 minutes in; also huge is The Watcher, which lurches across the speakers then gets sucked into an abyss of feeback popping out the other side in a grinding tectonic boogie. Beyond the grandiose there is the intimate, Led Zep Stairway style plaintive and acoustic. The second track lays down amongst a sedated interlude of romantically plucked strings, medieval folk that recalls the heathen or Viking metal of Enslaved or Falkenbach. It's a classic combination and one this band have executed with a righteous warmth and heroic poise. Great stuff.
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And, as a bonus reference, because I can't help it because I have just relived and re-realised how epic it truly is (wait for the spoken word section):
