Iceburn to Release Asclepius June 25; Teaser Posted
I’m not gonna claim to be O.G. Iceburn like I’ve been waiting 20 years for the Salt Lake City band to put out their next record or anything, but I dug both Ascend and Eagle Twin, and words like “recorded by Andy Patterson” tend to catch my eye, so when I listened to the teaser clip streaming below for one of the two presumably-side-long tracks that comprise Iceburn‘s Asclepius — due out June 25 on Southern Lord — and it turned out to be badass, I was duly pleased. And that’s about all I’ve got. Preorders are up now.
For those coming this way via the Eagle Twin or Ascend connections, you’ll find some carryover elements at work in what’s been posted from “Dahlia Rides the Firebird,” notably in the riffing and vocal style of Gentry Densley, but the atmosphere stretches way out here and, yeah, it’s a teaser so it should hopefully be taken as a sign of things to come. I wouldn’t expect two and a half minutes to encompass everything, but still.
From the PR wire:
ICEBURN RETURN WITH THEIR FIRST ALBUM IN OVER TWENTY YEARS
SOUTHERN LORD TO RELEASE ASCLEPIUS ON 25TH JUNE ON LP & DL FORMATS
PRE ORDER VIA BANDCAMP, SOUTHERN LORD & SOUTHERN LORD EUROPE
https://iceburnsl.bandcamp.com/
https://southernlord.com/band/iceburn/
https://southernlordeurope.com/band/iceburn/
Asclepius is the new album from the ever-evolving and adventurous collective Iceburn, who return with their first new material in twenty years, which Southern Lord shall release on 25th June on LP and digital formats.
Much like the mythical ouroboros that appear in their music, Iceburn have come full circle, as Gentry Densley comments, “Iceburn had always been about progressing and pushing the boundaries, pushing the music ahead of ourselves so we had to work to catch up. This new record comes from a place of rediscovery of who we are deep down, a place that with all it’s challenges and comforts, ultimately feels like home.”
He continues, “In recent years Iceburn basically became four friends hanging out and working on music. After all going in different directions for so many years we found ways to embrace our earliest influences and the foundations of our musical selves. We basically cycled back to the way we made music in our heyday, our salad days, and it felt right once again.”
The rawness of Asclepius harks back to the days of their early records (such as Hephaestus), and fuses elements of metal, jazz, psychedelia, and rock with a seamless flow, monolithic riffs, swirling harmonies, and a groove that are the cornerstones of their sound.
Asclepius comprises two long-form tracks, “Healing The Ouroboros” and “Dahlia Rides the Firebird”, the latter is based on an old traditional Greek tune. With some members majoring in classics/philosophy, music/composition and studying ethnomusicology – classic mythology has always been a key reference point for the themes of their music. That the new record is named after the god of healing and medicine and arriving at this moment in time is coincidence, as the band comments, “It felt like we needed healing even before this pandemic hit.”
The line-up on Asclepius represents the core of Iceburn through the early formative years. Iceburn, later the Iceburn Collective, initially existed from 1990 to 2001. Later reuniting in 2007 with this current lineup again at the core. The band’s initial output slowly evolved from hardcore and metal to free improvisation and noise, The 10 year arc saw the band following their own path and becoming more and more obscure as they got deeper into unknown musical worlds. By 2000 the cycle seemed complete and Iceburn did their final tour in Europe 2001. In 2007 this early core crew reunited to play a local anniversary show focused on the earliest material. Every few years since they would get together for another ‘reunion’ until that word became more of a joke, it was clear the band was back, getting together every week, and working on new material.
TRACK LIST:
1) Healing The Ouroboros
2) Dahlia Rides the Firebird
ICEBURN LINE UP:
Joseph ‘Chubba’ Smith – drums, founding member of Iceburn from 1990-’93 then 2007-present
James Holder – guitar, was also a founding member from ’90-’95 and ’07 to present
Cache Tolman – bass, ’91-97 off and on, and ’07 to present
Gentry Densley – guitar and vocals, 1990 to present
Asclepius was recorded and engineered by Andy Patterson (SubRosa, INVDRS, Insect Ark, and The Otolith) a collaborator also for Gentry’s other bands Eagle Twin and Ascend.
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Thanks for making my day JJ! Firon is an all-timer for me and Hephaestus rates right up there as well. I suspect a two-song album from these guys is going to be nothing short of epic.
Which would you recommend I start with as a new listener?
They are different records for sure. I would start with Firon. Honestly, that record was so far ahead of its time. And it was released on Victory Records of all friggin’ labels. In the midst of Victory’s early-90s punk and hardcore catalog was Iceburn writing incredibly complex songs with a singer who stood out from the typical bands on that label. “Winter” is probably my favorite song on that album and would be a good introduction to that album. Hephaestus, in my mind, starts to lay the ground work for what they ultimately did with the Iceburn Collective and is a full album experience v. a song-based one. Enjoy! And thanks for all that you do.
Thank you! I’ll dig into Firon first then. Very much appreciated.