Icepick - Violent Epiphany
- Released: 2006
- Label: Stillborn Records
- Rating:
Side projects often happen because members of various bands are looking to put together a record that captures some forgotten or fading aspect of a given music genre. Icepick is one of those bands. Made up of Jamey Jasta (of Hatebreed and Head Bangers Ball fame), Lord Ezec aka Danny Diablo (Skarhead), and well known producer Zuess sharing guitar duties with 3 Gun aka Frank Novinec (Terror, Hatebreed and Ringworm), Icepick has a line up that should certainly give it credibility with hardcore kids and metalheads alike.
This side project has been talked about for years, but remained on the back burner. The concept was for Jamey and Danny to get together and put out a record of old school hardcore, something that is quickly becoming extinct in today’s scene. Rather than putting out an album that is truly in the old school vein, Icepick is mostly a metallic tough guy hardcore record that is very much like the bands its most notable members come from. Songs like “With One Ideal” and “Nothing Without Loyalty” certain are a nod to the classic old school hardcore style however they do not represent the majority of the record. While nearly every song features sing along choruses and catchy break downs that are the typical trade marks of hardcore music most of the songs on this record would be at home on the next Hatebreed or Terror album.
Lack of old school feel aside Violent Epiphany is a good album with some solid highlights. The album opener, “Devotion Measures Strength,” is an excellent beginning that gets the blood pumping and has the listener looking for a dance floor so he can go throw down. The sing-alongs and catchy hooks keep things interesting yet the song is kept short and to the point clocking in at just over two minutes. The second song, “Bitter Twisted Memories,” maintains the onslaught with a solid melodic guitar part that builds to a crushing break down. From there things settle down a bit and the album continues on like a chugging locomotive. After the great start there are definitely some high points like the old school vibe and good break downs in “With One Ideal” and the fast guitar work and catchy vocals on “Nothing Without Loyalty.” With one more exception that we will get to in a minute the remainder of the album while for the most part good just kind of blends together. They are the songs that no one would bother to skip but that would go mostly unnoticed if the listener was not paying attention. With what I would call 6 stand out tracks, the other 6 tracks (one of which is nothing more than Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski’s intro music), just kind of fill in the gaps.
While not the best musically probably the track that stands out the most is “Real Recognizes Real”. The song opens to Ice-T slapping everyone into attention declaring that “Its going down faggots” and then continuing on with a line about grabbing ya mama’s skirt. By the time the intro is over and the music really gets going most people within ear shot will have turned their attention to the song in an effort to see what exactly is going down. While some will surely be offended by this shock tactic when hasn’t hardcore been at least a bit about shocking and offending the masses? The remainder of the song is one of the catchiest on the album and while Ice-T definitely lends his style to the song with a memorable chorus and his own break down the song never becomes the hip hop infused rap-core song that it could have (which is a good thing as far as I am concerned).
As I mentioned earlier this is a solid album that should not disappoint fans of tough guy hardcore. That however does not make up for the fact that this all star line up should have been able to deliver 12 tracks of unforgettable hardcore be it in the old school vein or not. Go out, buy it, listen to it, punch your neighbor! I think you will find that it is money well spent (especially since there should still be a Stillborn sampler CD packaged with it). However, after a few listens it should be apparent why this only warrants a 3.5 rating.
Jason “CJSIXER” Wenderoth | 06/18/2006