Published on Jun 2, 1999
The more I listen to progressive music, the more I am getting
convinced that this genre is the next flavor of heavy metal. And,
if metal is indeed on a commercial upturn as other reviewers and I
have been predicting for over a year, then this might be the way
for progressive rock to finally step up to the plate again after
almost 30 years out of the “superstar” mode.
If all of this comes to pass, then I would not be surprised to
see Ice Age leading the pack. Their recently released album
The Great Divide is a work that should make believers out of
even the greatest skeptics, and should bring a lot of joy to
listeners due to solid songwriting and performances.
Sounding uncannily like Styx in their heyday (albeit more
progressive, less commercial), guitarist Jimmy Pappas, bassist
Aaron DiCesare, vocalist/keyboardist Josh Pincus and drummer Hal
Aponte take building blocks from such bands as Emerson, Lake &
Palmer and Genesis, but they dare to throw in a little UFO, Iron
Maiden and Metallica into the mix with a harder edge to the music.
The end result is one that might surprise the die-hard prog-rock
fans, but is a welcome breath of fresh air into the genre.
Tracks like “Sleepwalker” and “Join” hook the listener, thanks
in no small part to Pincus’s vocal similarities to Dennis DeYoung.
(With DeYoung’s recent health problems, I am very surprised that
Styx didn’t consider asking Pincus to tour with the band, and have
Ice Age serve as the support act.) But if you think this is a Styx
clone, think again; musically, Ice Age has their own agenda, and
thanks to the interplay between Pincus’s keyboards and Pappas’s
guitar licks,
The Great Divide plows its own path and challenges the
listener to accept this band on their terms.
The pure pleasure of the musicianship – as well as a gauge of
how much fun the band is having – comes on the instrumental “Spare
Chicken Parts”, a number in which each band member is given a
chance to strut their stuff. At times, Aponte’s drum work reminds
me a little bit of Rush’s Neil Peart, although he doesn’t go into
all the complexities of percussion. (Good thing, too; if he did,
people would say he was ripping Peart off.)
What is special about Ice Age is that they can launch into a
song that is over 10 minutes in length, but the time seems to fly
by. This is not something that every progressive band is able to
do, and for Ice Age to nail this skill on album number one is very
impressive. Songs like “Perpetual Child,” “To Say Goodbye” (which
is really two songs labeled as one) and “Ice Age” seem to pass like
traditional radio singles – and they make for great repeat
listens.
The Great Divide might not win over those who believe that
progressive rock should be its own unique animal, and it may take
some time before the metalheads really get into a disc like this.
But if both camps gave it a fair shake, they might soon realize not
only how much this disc complements each style, but how much each
form of music has in common. (Seeing that I’m noticing a lot of
progressive acts being tagged with a “metal” label as a
description, it might be that people are waking up to this
fact.)
The Great Divide is a solid debut effort from this quartet,
and it makes me very excited about this band’s future potential.
Mark my words: if metal is truly making a comeback, Ice Age is
going to be one of the bands that inject new blood into the genre’s
veins.