Icos - Walk with me CD Reviews in swedish can be found at the bottom of this page. KILLED BY NOISE: Swedish label/distro Wasted Sounds prudoces really many good records and stuff and it´s nice to hear they don´t concentrate just into crustcore, punk style. ICOS are much more slower and heavier, than you expect. This sounds very into Catharsis and Isis style. Song are perfectly structured from slow and depressive melodies what makes total instrumental extasy. This is no ordinary shit and i have not enough. I can´t help myself, they really kick my ass. I fall in love with this album. It strong, heavy and killer records, filled in with excellent art-work and lay-out. After Neurosis or Isis - i mean this is one of the first european bands who kick their ass! Believe me, man! (M) AVERSIONLINE.COM: This Swedish act plays a fairly crushing form of dark, metallic hardcore/punk that blends the common His Hero is Gone style of approach with more of an open sort of Neurosis-esque slant. For example, "Dead End" sways from a thundering percussive rumble with faintly lulled singing and sparse guitar work to a chilling blend of harsh screaming and dissonant power chords with thick, gritty distortion and some melodic textures underneath; and the six-minute "Each Day" opens with dry acoustic guitars and added strings for a truly somber two-minute intro that once more explodes into a midpaced dirge of distorted power chords before sinking back down for an excellently placed sample and returning to continue the back and forth contrast between calmer areas and oppressively bleak distorted runs. Tracks like "A New Morning" are in large part basically slightly more frantic and dissonant takes on a rather straight up attack of modern Swedish D-beat crust, but the band always tends to shift gears at least once per song, and this time it's another softer break of sustained power chords that takes over with backing drones that lead into the initial ambient throb of "Fly Away" - which fucks with some odd time signatures and added discordance for a rather different sounding track that still fits in with the overall aesthetic. From a sheer quality of songwriting standpoint, however, it's the title track that really hits the hardest with its melodic sensibilities and gutwrenching vocal performance during the chorus - standing as a true beacon of what Icos is capable of. The recording is really nice for this style in terms of blending massive density with a good grasp of clarity that creates a powerful sense of force without going too far or becoming muddy. It's a pretty crisp approach that sounds a little more polished than a lot of this kind of stuff, and that certainly pays off in the way that the guitars and vocals interact with the rhythm section. Good stuff. The disc is housed in a nice looking glossy digipack with a consistent appearance that's pretty misleading in terms of how menacing the music is (It actually looks like an emo record or something!). They forgot to list one song title on the back cover, but what can you do? The lyrics are a blend of personal turmoil and light socio-political commentary, but while I can appreciate the general tone and emotion of the content, I'm really not very moved by the literal lyrics in terms of overly stripped down lines such as, "Give me your wings, teach me to fly, take me away, I don't belong, I don't fit in this world…" simply because such phrases simply seem to lack creativity, you know? Considering the immense force of the music I'd just like to see the lyrics get a little more involved to match that same level of intensity. But for the most part this is really good stuff, and it's interesting that they have as much in common with their country- and labelmates in Ambulance as they do with other fellow Swedes like Cult of Luna, but they manage to come across without sounding too much like either one of those tried and true styles in the process. So the balance is in place, and this record should of course appeal to fans of both styles in its attempts to push for something a little different in between. Well done. (7/10) Running time - 31:48, Tracks: 9 [Notable tracks: Dead End, Each Day, Walk With Me] Attack! Fanzine: The opening track "Vocal test" put a lot of doubt in me the first time I put this on. "Oh no, yet another crappy screamo band" were my first thoughts. I kept this feeling throughout the entire disc, not paying much attention. But then, the second time I went over this I really started to listen, and I quickly revised my earlier opinion. Sure, they do have screamo tendencies, but they also have just as much in common with the gloomy, angst ridden, dark tones of Neurosis. And also hardcore bands like Acursed and Tragedy too for that matter. But most of all I think they sound like Icos. They don't wear their influences on their sleeves, but are instead creating slow, multi-layered, doomy, hardcore metal with the help of various sources of inspiration. They're also exploring other areas, like the intro to the track "Each day" where they use acoustic guitars and a cello to create this dark and quiet episode before they burst into extreme heaviness a couple of minutes into the track. And then slow things down with guitars, drums and whispering vocals again before getting on with the sludge once more. A varied and very creative band that is extremely good at what they do. Not everyone can make a successful mix of over-the-top screaming, almost non-existent musical darkness, raging intensity, and down tuned heaviness. And it you need more proof of their creativity you should compare the tracks "Daydreaming", "Each day", and "Hands too sore". I'm so glad I managed to get past my first prejudices against this CD, 'cause now I can't stop playing it. [Krogh, September 2005] MAXIMUMROCKNROLL #258 September 2005: Moody, burly metallic-core from Gothenburg, with the dark edge of HIS HEROIS GONE, but filtered through nu-school REFUSED/metal-style breakdowns andguitar sheen, with plenty of interesting quiet melodic parts that turn tofull force heavy crunch or hardcore attack. This makes for somedistinctively creative and freat music, similar to the last ACURSED LP intone and intensity, but marred by a consistent "cast out of the pit ofhell" vocal garbling that works against the subtleties of their music byremaining consistently "intense" throughout "the #1 pitfall of monstervocals). It works in enough parts for a remarkably solid nine-song debute.(Ken Sanderson) Skrutt zine: 9 songs of really raw and cruel emostyled music is what icos gives us. The singer sounds angry as hell and this is soon obvious that this isn´t any music which are going high up on the charts precisely. 31.52 of hate and anger comes over us like volcany, hot asphalt or to be overdriven by a steamroller. I like their attitude to music but you who want a goodsinging human being behind the microphone will be disappointed because here it´s about not singing so beautiful , it´s more about getting out your anger through the music and that manages Icos to get.(SEVEN) 18/8-05 metica.se (Betyg 7/10): Svenska kvartetten Icos debutskiva består av en brokig skara låtar. Fundamentet utgörs av ett Neurosis/Cult Of Luna-liknande tungt mangel, men tjusiga stråkar och d-taktshamrande hinns även med under den halvtimme som 'Walk with me' tar i anspråk. Övergången mellan ångvälten 'Each Day' och inledningsvis kängpunkigt brutala 'A New Morning' förvånar och gläder mig varje gång jag lyssnar. Och då sistnämnda bit växlar tempo och blir så långsam att klockorna börjar gå baklänges känner jag mig smått förälskad. Inte fullt så stiligt och stämningsfullt som Isis eller Cult Of Luna, men som en uppkäftigare och punkigare lillebror till de mer etablerade akterna inom genren har Icos definitivt pissat in sitt revir. Med ökat självförtroende och en större uppfinningsrikedom kan detta gäng bli nästan hur stora som helst. Och då menar jag musikaliskt sett, för rent försäljningsmässigt är tyvärr den här musiken inte speciellt gångbar. Det är ju fan att folk ska ha så jävla taskig musiksmak. Författare: Jesper Hasselström Musiklandet.se: Vrål och skrik från Götet Jag hade faktiskt aldrig hört Icos innan jag fick denna skiva. Kan bero på att den här formen av musik inte brukar spelas i mitt hem. Skivan börjar starkt med låten "Daydreaming". Eller egentligen börjar den med ett intro, dock ingalunda värt att nämnas. Utan tvivel låter det mer lovande under just "Daydreaming". Som vanligt när det gäller sån här musik är det melodisk och tungt. Skärande vrål och känsloladdat. "Fly away" är bäst. Texten är precis som man kunde vänta sig. ?I dont belong, I dont fit in, in this world? Knasig text va? Men själva låten är sådär mysig och bra. Man kan lägga sig under täcket och slappna av efter en dag i vårat hopplösa system. En liten paus med en darrig gitarr, sen ett distat avslutande parti. Förutom "Fly away" bärs skivan upp av låtarna "Walk with me", "Hands too sore" och vackra "Each day". "Hands too sore" avslutar skivan, och det gör den bra. Mysig låt som är lite tyngre i smaken. Lite avvikande från de andra låtarna, och det är räddningen. Icos är inget jag skulle sätta i spelaren, men helt klart ett starkt kort. Dukiga musiker, duktig sångare, och bra låtmaterial! Fortsätt så! DÖDSCELL: Det känns jävligt fånigt att behöva jämföra Icos med band som Neurosis, Isis eller Cult Of Luna - men jag gör det i alla fall. Med nyss nämnda referenser vet ni vad ni har att vänta: släpigt, ångestfyllt mangel varvat med softa partier. Ljudet är grymt och jag gillar de lugna partierna som fan. Sången är rätt jävla rå, vilket höjer det hela ett snäpp: Icos blir ingen Neuroskopia utan får ett rätt eget sound i och med de vokala insatserna. Dessutom har Icos ett mer punkigt sound än andra band i den här genren (i en låt bjuds det minsann på lite d-taktande), vilket gör att jag faktiskt föredrar Icos framför bandets mer kända kusiner.