christopher_jerome
tone & tempo .... man, i do miss the old sword but i’m glad to add these dudes to my midwest collection of rock artists!
Favorite track: The Tracker.
Jffrsn_Bttlshp
Holy Crom this album is massive. I don’t have a sound system loud enough to truly enjoy this. What planet was I on in 2016 that I missed this.
Favorite track: Crack The Earth.
Doomed and Stoned:
Forged from the lode of Thorr Axe with guitarist/vocalist Travis Roach, bassist/vocalist Tucker Thomasson (AVAKR), and drummer Niko Albanese (Lawbringer) it is very notable that Ice Howl owns a unique and fascinating sound. Further, I’ll state that Ice Howl is one of the most interesting bands I’ve come across recently. The trio released their debut recording, ‘Crack The Earth’ (2016), which caused more than a few shockwaves in the heavy underground.
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Cobbling together a Thin Lizzy vibe, healthy doses of stoner rock, NWOBHM stylings, and a heavy metal twist, Ice Howl’s Crack The Earth is an absolute treat.
Outlaws of the Sun:
Ice Howl are a fairly new Doom/Stoner Metal band as their music will mostly appeal to fans of The Sword and Grand Magus. You have members of Thorr-Axe and Lawbringer part of this hugely talented line-up. So they’re talent or their passion for creating riffs is never in doubt. Ice Howl’s debut album – Crack The Earth – is an album that contains a huge amount of fantastical elements all held together by a heavy pounding Stoner Metal vibe.
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The production is superb from start to finish with Ice Howl showing an air of confidence that some bands don’t show on their debut albums. Ice Howl offer top-notch Doom/Stoner Metal escapism with Crack The Earth. This is a must have album and I predict a very bright future for Ice Howl as Crack The Earth is a stunning debut album. Watch these guys soar.
Metal Nexus:
As the continuing rise of Progressive Metal builds and builds in the global Metal community it also has kicked the door in here within the U.S. also. The latest wave of bands worthy of your attention includes such notables as Bedowyn, Forming The Void, and two bands active in Indiana, Archarus and my own recently discovered Ice Howl. The Ice Howl guys, guitarist/vocalist Travis Roach, bassist Tucker Thomasson, and drummer Niko Albanese, have crafted a huge sound that’s chock full of amazing riffs and intense rhythms underlying its powerful clean vocals. The newly released full-length debut from Ice Howl, “Crack The Earth“, is a massive monolith to magnificent guitar work and tight, precise bass and drums that meld and mold a truly oldschool vibe to every nuance. The album is full of fantasy-driven songs about Druids and Sorcerers and while the album undoubtedly provides some epic Power Metal for the music-loving masses, it’s as much “Age Of Winters” era The Sword and Grand Magus as it is Manilla Road.
Neils Bartholdy(Cursed Tongue Records):
Ice Howl hails out of Bloomington, indiana playing a super ballsy take on early The Sword type of riffing mixed up with a more heavy metal approach than stoner rock at times making up for really accessible and very enjoyable album.
Nice clean vocals dominate the picture wavering atop chugging guitars cutting through ice-capped canyons of drumming. Top-shelf stoner, doom, HM with melody lines that ought to earn them air-play on any decent rock radio station should they ever bother to play real music. This will certainly gain them repeated listen for the time to come. Already on my 5 listen and not any signs of wearing out. This band is going to take it far if any justice it to be served.
Indy Metal Shows:
Ice Howl’s debut album is a strong start and worth checking out for fans of all things riffy and melodic. The band plainly wears their influences on their sleeves and there’s room to leave a deeper impression, but the album goes by quickly and offers a lot of enjoyment. Here’s hoping that the band will reach even greater heights on their follow-up efforts.
credits
released May 28, 2016
Recorded and Produced by Niko Albanese
Mastered by Luke Narey
All Music Written by Ice Howl