Icycore is a new progressive metal band from Italy. They play Progressive Metal, and I can hear many influences — everything from Queensrÿche to Iron Maiden. For example, 'Visions of Numeric Life' has a part that's little similar to Iron Maiden's 'Run to the Hills'. At first I wasn't so impressed with Icycore's music, but after listening Wetwired once through their originality revealed (and compelled me to listen to this record again and again). Although they haven't reinvented the wheel, they have quite original sound. Their songs are diverse and variable — needless to say, listening this record isn't sedate. There's even a thrash metal song (Watchdog & Virus) on this album.

Some of the songs on Wetwired are vapid, but there are also some really great songs. Those good songs are the reason why this CD goes on repeat quite easily. One of my personal favourites is 'the Hollow Men', which has a beatiful piano intro. There are plenty of other good songs too, as this CD spins for 68 minutes. One of this album's strengths is its re-listening value (songs don't start to repeat themselves).

At first I wasn't too fond of Valerio Voliani's voice (especially when he sang the high parts), but fortunaly he uses his voice quite versatilly. Production on this album is done quite well. So there's not much to complain, mixing and mastering has been done successfully. At some parts it could have been done just a little bit better, but it's nothing serious.

Every now and then there is an instrumental passage that leads to the following songs. These instrumentals are quite good. So all in all, this album is quite good (especially if you're a fan of this genre). So if you're in need of new progmetal, Icycore isn't a bad choice. It's not the best progmetal band, but it is by no means the worst. It has something magical about it as it got me listening to it quite a few times (maybe 7 times in total during 2 days).

Visit Artist's Website


- MAGE (09.07.2004)

« back

LINE-UP:
Voliani, Valerio: Vocals Romano, Tiziano: Guitars Caprina, Francesco: Guitars Oliviero, Lisa: Bass Baroni, Andrea: Keyboards Bracaloni, Alessandro: Drums Holler, Terence: Additional Lead Vocals on 'Chrome' Creatini, Serena: Additional Backing Vocals
Producer:	Stefanini, Luigi
Mixing by:	Stefanini, Luigi
Mastering by:	Schmid, C. & Liapakis, R.D.

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Wetwired 02. Upload 03. The Net 04. Visions of Numeric Life 05. The Hollow Men 06. Watchdog & Virus 07. Chrome 08. Redefine Stru 09. A New Gestalt 10. Watch Me Now 11. Inner Void 12. Eternal Unlife