Asclepius

So this one caught me totally by surprise. A new LP from Iceburn that came out a few weeks ago. It's funny though how it came onto my radar. I saw a post on instagram for an Engine Kid box set that came out on RSD a few weeks back. I haven't listened to the band for a long time, but the box set looked great and really caught my attention. I did some research and then realised that they have a bandcamp page where you can download all of their songs for free, which I did, and I then spent a few days re-acquanting myself with their catalog. I then listened to the 'Where It Went' podcast episode on the Engine Kid / Iceburn split 12", which talked about a new Iceburn LP. I was intrigued as to what Iceburn would sound like in 2021, thinking it would probably be the worst thing I had ever heard, so I headed to the Iceburn bandcamp to check it out... and about 20 minutes later I had ordered a copy.

The Southern Lord store only offered me a black vinyl option, but I then found a Southern Lord Europe store which also had a clear vinyl option. It didn't actually mention pressing info anywhere, so it was surprising to see that the clear is out of 300 printed on the hype sticker.

The record came sealed within a loose fitting poly sleeve which had a perforated top that you could tear off to allow access. But once you tear off the top bit, the poly sleeve isn't tall enough to contain the sleeve. As you can see, the top of the sleeve sticks out. Without doubt the worst poly sleeve I have ever seen.

Anyway, onto the record itself, and I have to say it looks great. The artwork, the colour scheme, and the vinyl sum to a really nice looking piece of art.

This is a full length album in terms of running time, but as you'd expect with Iceburn, not in terms of number of songs. There are only two songs here, which average 18 minutes each.

Now, this is the point where I sense you may be slightly sceptical, but this record is incredible. Seriously. And as bad as it sounds to say it, I think it's because it sounds absolutely nothing like Iceburn ever sounded before. When I first played this on the bandcamp page, my first thought was that it sounded like Clutch. The riffs are heavy and the vocals are deep, and it kinda reminded me slightly of Clutch from an era long ago when I actually used to listen to Clutch, around the time that they released their self titled LP. Upon further listens I have moved away from this comparison a bit. Today I decided that the guitars are kinda reminiscent of 70s stoner rock and at times the vocals remind me of Mastodon. I may change my mind tomorrow and decide that it sounds more like something else, but you get the picture. Slow and heavy and possibly the best Iceburn record there is. I've been listening to this one twice a day for the past couple of weeks and it's one of those records that I get excited just thinking about listening to. Crazy huh?