Well, that was quite the trip, but in like, a good way. There wasn’t some breakthrough moment of introspective self-discovery or anything of the sort for me but making it through Asclepius (Southern Lord) does feel nice. Where these songs written well ahead of time or were they discovered and jammed out through the recording process? Don’t know and don’t quite care. Iceburn somehow made it work and sound natural. 

I guess you can equate listening to an Iceburn album to the first time you saw a prestigious foreign film and felt like you understood it by the time credits roll. See, it’s not just Pantera and Hatebreed for me all the time, guys, I get the smart stuff too. And no that was not a swipe against those two bands. You can put away your Tweets and rest assured that I lovingly listen to those guys when I’m not on duty.

So yes, Asclepius is a good and interesting listen, but before you jump into it there are some things to note. You’re probably wondering why a 36-minute-long experience only contains two songs. Well, let’s just say you’ll get the most mileage out of it if you’re more an …And Justice for All man than you are pro-Black Album. ‘Healing the Ouroboros’ lumbers off the ground with pounding drums and creeping guitars that would make you think Doom Metal, but then it starts heading down a path more akin to Mastodon or The Sword. And I’m talking pre The Hunter Mastodon catalog. Ask your older brother or rad uncle about it. Anyways, sinister vibes set aside and Iceburn find themselves neck deep in riffs and lead guitar noodling. So much so that after an extended dueling guitar bit I couldn’t help but wonder if these songs were the product of the band improvising and jamming in-studio as opposed to showing up with this fret madness well-rehearsed in advance.

While you’re still processing what you heard, ‘Dahlia Rides the Firebird’ kicks in and you’re back in weird city only this time the train is making musical stops on bits of song that wouldn’t be out of place on a Candlemass or Tool album. Yeah, figure that sentence out. 

This will probably be the strangest part of this review, but I wanted a bit more. I wouldn’t be opposed to having another track or two on Asclepius. And for an album with so much musical real estate I was disappointed that Joseph ‘Chubba’ Smith wasn’t allowed as much free rein on drums as the guitars got.

While I can’t guarantee the Asclepius experience for everyone, I’m walking away as a satisfied customer. But now it’s a bit of a problem as I’m jonesing for more. 

Preorder Iceburn’s “Asclepius”: https://iceburnsl.bandcamp.com https://southernlord.com/band/iceburn/

8 / 10

HANS LOPEZ