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I.C.O.N
The Blacklist

Metalbox Recordings (2015)
Rating: 5/10

In 2009, British rockers I.C.O.N released their debut album entitled New Born Life. It was a half-decent start from the band up north, but as with so many bands, many of us were asking if the sophomore effort could live up to expectation.

To be honest, I kind of expected the same thing, and that’s exactly what I got; I.C.O.N are the sort of plodding heavy metal act who most probably wouldn’t have got a look in back in the 80s or early 90s due to their rather derivative style. After seeing the video for ‘Welcome To My War’, I’m still left wondering as to whether there’s a place for these guys. What is clear at the moment in metal and has been evident for the last decade or so is that thousands of bands are happy to pay homage to their heroes, but seemingly without the passion.

Now, on first listen I’d say that ‘Welcome To My War’ is a nod to Metallica circa … And Justice For All (1988) and The Black Album (1991’s Metallica) and that’s not something that sits comfortably with me, because I found both albums so tired and plodding. Seeing the Master Of Puppets flag hanging up in the band’s ‘Welcome To My War’ video filled me with both dread and excitement, but now I’ve spun the album a few times I’ve not really been moved to be honest.

The Blacklist is a rather standard, routine heavy metal record that likes to chug along, albeit in a clean-cut style of fashion, bringing with it the vocals of Mark Sagar who, if you ask me, has spent too much time aping James Hetfield (Metallica) in front of his mirror. It’s almost as if the band hasn’t realised that Metallica has millions of clones. As the riffs trudge along, I’m left bemused. At no point have I ever been excited by the recent thrash resurgence, being rather sceptical and cynical of bands such as Evile, so why on earth should I applaud I.C.O.N? Well, I’m still searching for that answer, because this is about as bland as metal gets, in any year or genre.

I guess I’m old-fashioned enough to cite numerous classy 80s thrash acts from the UK who never got the attention they deserved, and I.C.O.N isn’t fit to lace the boots of any of them, whether it’s Xentrix, Deathwish, Sabbat etc. It sums up that eagerness to ape and not create, with The Blacklist marching aimlessly into brick walls like one of those toy robot machines that would hit an obstacle and flip over and continue, in spite of there being no clear route out.

The album begins with ‘A Room In Hell’, complete with a slow, simmering twanging guitar. There’s a flash of hope here as instrumental tracks go, but then we’re into the mire of ‘Feeding The Negative’. One of the album’s better tracks, it trudges with a hint of pace bolstered by Larry Paterson’s drums, but as soon as the vocal comes in there is a huge, tepid lull – the band suddenly becomes a bog-standard pub band better suited to covering old rock songs.

In spite the attempts of weight, so basic is the premise that one cannot feel that the band would be a far greater force with a more versatile vocalist. This is also evident with the weighty ‘Grindin’ Wheel’ which is a no frills but adequate mid-paced plodder, but so lacking in identity and thrills, meaning that I.C.O.N are just another average British band punching above their weight. The turgid themes continue, in spite of some good leads from Scott Knowles; ‘I’m The Venom’, ‘Devil’s Blacklist’, ‘Man Of The North’ and ‘Deconverted’ are just a few examples of the band’s ability to groove in weighty fashion, but offer nothing else apart from mediocre rock ’n’ metal, hinting at that tired brand of aimless drudgery the early 2000s offered up with the likes of dullards Godsmack.

Although I.C.O.N has showed progression with its songwriting since the debut and they have garnered a wealth of attention in the UK, I’m clearly one of those who just simply does not understand the dull as ditchwater grooves of ‘Wrong Way Back’ and ‘Drowning In Their Screams’. In fact, I’m finding it so hard to be moved in any way, shape or form by this record that only the word “average” can be applied to such a bland statement of affairs. Sorry guys, but in this day and age I expect something more from bands.

Neil Arnold

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