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ICE WAR
Sacred Land

Fighter (2021)
Rating: 5/10

Sounding like some obscure mid-80s metal act boasting power metal strains, Canadian one-man project Ice War returns to the fold with a batch of no frills, yet rather epic blasts, channelled via the mind of multi-instrumentalist Jo “Steel” Capitalicide, who has journeyed his way through numerous cool bands such as Expunged, Spectral Dance and Iron Dogs.

Sacred Land is the fifth full-length release from Ice War, and while I once again have become enwrapped in its medieval, sub-power metal charm, it’s worth pointing out the flaws of Ice War.

This is very much nostalgic, stuffy retro metal which is sadly let down by Capitalicide’s less than average vocal talents as he mournfully croons his way through the Gothic trudge of the title track. But like numerous forgotten Euro acts of the 80s, this construction has a charm, an almost Euro-Goth quality and gloominess, provided by the woe-filled doominess of, say, ‘Black Horse’, and the melancholic, yet almost lacklustre ‘Nuclear Gods’. The latter brings a Black Sabbath-styled nod, as does closer ‘Slay The Beast’. However, the whole album just feels like a rehearsal tape, and while that may bring an authenticity there’s also that rather strong feeling of the amateurish.

‘Crystal Mirror’ brings further tides of grey doom, but the album quickly becomes a by-numbers trudge wherein very little glimmers. ‘So Far Away’ traipses through the cold rain like a despondent horse bereft of rider and works itself straight onto the Mausoleum or Ebony Records roster of the 80s as a rather stuffy, half-hinted plod.

In fact, the whole Ice War catalogue is one great, damp thud bereft of energy, often repetitive and absurdly blunt. As Capitalicide chants his way through each song, I picture a young lad, in his bedroom, singing and playing along to his favourite obscure 80s metal albums and accidentally re-creating the exact feel but without the snap or fire.

It’s not terrible by any means, but it’s not creative or going to enable you to summon demons from the stereo, and sadly Ice War has sort of declined with each passing album. This suggests then that it’s time Capitalicide moved on to projects new instead of bumbling his way around such slow-motion misery as ‘Blood And Flames’, because the more his guitar chugs, the more his drum nods and the more his vocals reach into the night, the more likely that further Ice War albums will spend their days beneath the bed with that discarded leather jacket, the old metal magazines and the bones of rats that chewed them.

Ice War has become somewhat the epitome of mediocrity and I’m sorry for that. The ice has melted, the war has ended… it’s time for pastures new.

Neil Arnold

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