Release Date: February 19th, 2013
There are few bands that can leave your ears hemorrhaging and your innermost thoughts wrangled. One of those bands is Iceage—the Copenhagen, Denmark punks who manage to gloss over every emotional black hole of punk rock, clutching onto the sadistically abrasive melodies and tactful approach. After battling for a label and a series of pressings, the band’s pins-and-needles debut New Brigade went largely unheard and then dismissed. Pick up Iceage’s sophomore release, though, and it goes without question—they’re not kids, they’re men; they’re playing from the heart (albeit, a thoroughly gnarled one); and they’ll blow your head clean off, 45 magnum or not.
Aborting the wall-of-industrial-sound for more intricate and deliberate stylings, Iceage is now leaning on some bloated bass lines and clattering guitar. With their metal waves and guitar-slamming melodies resting in the corner, the quartet now has room to attack their instruments and pulse in some noise punk and post-punk throughout their warm 12-track punk cavity.
“Ecstasy,” the opening track is inherently deceiving; that is, unless you consider a sonic gut punch and throat ripping screams your idea of aural nirvana. Dissonance aside, “Ecstasy” is a balanced opening to the album, not front-loading with their entire stock of intensity, but still giving it a solid wind-up. The bridge, repeated wail “PRESSURE!” as the instruments die down for a moment of hard fought clarity is oddly comforting in the faint feedback aftermath.
The taking-care-of-business opener is swiftly booted by “Coalition.” The track serves as proof that Iceage are aiming high toward the unsung anthemic aspects of punk, laying on the fret groping riffs as vocalist Elias Rønnenfelt’s formerly guttural bark is whipped into an insistent howl. Iceage prove that with age comes wisdom–even for punks–with the earworm lyrics, “Wants me to take her/ But blockades run through my veins/ Something denies coalition with you.”
“Interlude” breaks all fatigue, following the eerie quiet of How to destroy angels_ flavor but then builds with a little drummer boy in the doldrums snare and an unassuming build. What the dynamic four-piece is capable of molding with static chops and some simple lines is testament to their ability to summon dark matter from anything. Unafraid to slosh out some southern fried punk, the electric guitar intro to “In Haze” can’t escape a speckling of muddy and deliberate blues chops. Rønnenfelt’s slate-spitting vocals quickly interject, nodding toward early neurosis-stricken Black Flag.
The halfway point of the album begins on a macabre note, “Morals” with Rønnenfelt panting over an ominous fill. His voice is so hurting that it seems like he’s going to be dragging you off the brink with you. But then picks up with strained melodic and blunt-edged snarls. The song labors but fully demonstrates Rønnenfelt’s range and the ample thread of styles running throughout the album. There’s something oddly melodic about this laser-pointed angst in the refrain “Where’s your morals?” that can’t be ignored.
The album’s closer and title track, “You’re Nothing” a clanging flurry of cymbals and the old Iceage, complete with fatigue-laced wails and head-pounding pace. Rønnenfelt’s repeated descent with each yelp of “You are nothing!” drains into the well of emotion he packs into every verse and crawls right to the finish line leaving listeners tired, busted, and satisfied.
New Brigade may have been Iceage’s bulldog ballad, leaving a lasting scar; but with You’re Nothing, things are a little more shiny and new while bearing the same impact—the aftermath is just a lot prettier. Hacksawing the fat off today’s oversaturated punk in favor of glorious feedback slaughter, Iceage clearly has a vision, and it’s straight from some dark corner within ourselves that we’d all rather not acknowledge, set to a driving post-punk fantasy…maybe nightmare.
Iceage – You’re Nothing tracklist:
- “Ecstasy”
- “Coalition”
- “Interlude”
- “Burning Hand”
- “In Haze”
- “Morals”
- “Everything Drifts”
- “Wounded Hearts”
- “It Might Hit First”
- ” Rodfæstet”
- “Awake”
- “You’re Nothing”
