Iceage | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Danish band Iceage started out as an abrasive punk rock quartet, before exploring a more multi-faceted approach to songwriting. Iceage was formed in 2008 by singer and guitarist Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, guitarist Johan Suurballe Wieth, bassist Jakob Tvilling Pless, and drummer Dan Kjær Nielsen; the quartet, whose average age at the time was 17, had been friends for years before they began making an impression with their music. In 2009, Iceage issued their first self-titled EP, and by 2011 theyd teamed with Tambourhinoceros Records to issue their debut album, a nervy and hard-hitting set called New Brigade. When the album was issued in the United States in mid-2011, Iceage made their American debut with a performance in Brooklyn, New York. In 2013, Iceage unveiled their second album, the more sophisticated but still brutal set Youre Nothing, and the LP earned them a deal with the successful independent label Matador Records. In 2014, Iceage released album number three, Plowing Into the Field of Love, again through Matador; the album marked a new creative direction for the group, with horns, keyboards, and acoustic guitars introduced into the arrangements as the songs became more dynamic and eclectic, without leaving their darker side behind. They continued the trend on their next full-length, 2018s Beyondless, although they were further influenced by Rønnenfelts burgeoning side project Marching Church, with whom he had released two albums in between Iceage records. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 4 Title: New Brigade Released: 2011-01-07 Tracks: 12 Duration: 24:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Intro (00:47) 2 White Rune (02:41) 3 New Brigade (02:15) 4 Remember (02:13) 5 Rotting Heights (01:39) 6 Total Drench (01:39) 7 Broken Bone (02:30) 8 Collapse (02:11) 9 Eyes (02:03) 10 Count Me In (01:16) 11 Never Return (03:08) 12 Youre Blessed (01:53) |
| New Brigade : Allmusic album Review : Who would guess that it would take a group of Danish teenagers to reinvigorate punk? For their debut, New Brigade, Iceage come furiously out of the gate, combining the bare-bones art punk popularized by Wire and Warsaw in the 70s with an ‘80s hardcore punk spirit. The songs on New Brigade are excellent -- quick and succinct blasts that never last longer than three minutes -- as the jagged guitar parts of Johan and Elias tear along in front of the ragged rhythm section attack of Dan and Jakob. “Total Drench,” “Collapse,” and “Count Me In” practically fall apart in reckless abandon, slow down for a short breather, and then, with a four-count drumstick click, whip back into a wild fit. Because Iceage’s material is recorded raw, and devoid of traditional verse/chorus structures, hooks are often hard to locate amidst the fractured structures and dissonant chords, but they exist. One of Iceages best tricks is their ability to turn atonal tension into a melody, especially when Elias alternates from talk-singing lazily to shouting passionately in “Broken Bone” and “You’re Blessed." Sure, Iceages debut is under 25 minutes long, but the short running time makes it all the more powerful. New Brigade is charmingly underdeveloped, slapdash, and direct -- in other words, absolutely thrilling. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 4 Title: You’re Nothing Released: 2013-02-18 Tracks: 12 Duration: 28:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ecstacy (02:28) 2 Coalition (02:03) 3 Interlude (01:43) 4 Burning Hand (03:21) 5 In Haze (03:00) 6 Morals (03:20) 7 Everything Drifts (02:40) 8 Wounded Hearts (02:28) 9 It Might Hit First (01:22) 10 Rodfæstet (01:45) 11 Awake (02:26) 12 You’re Nothing (01:44) |
| You’re Nothing : Allmusic album Review : Wiry Danish punk revivalists Iceage made a beautiful noise on their 2011 debut, New Brigade, bringing the raw energy of early punk to their chaotic first set of songs. Their brilliant fury wasnt simply a rehash of the bands that influenced them like Wire or pre-Joy Division project Warsaw, but felt more like new life being breathed into the often by-the-numbers punk rock landscape. Where New Brigade was an exciting and furious reminder of how immediate and inspired punk could be, Youre Nothing feels like the next logical step taken by a young band whose creative flow is constantly at light speed. Still rooted in the energetic punk and hardcore mania that defined their debut, Youre Nothing shows a band thats matured rapidly, approaching more nuanced and sophisticated arrangements, lyrical themes, and ideas. That doesnt just mean the songs are slower, either. Standout tracks like "Everything Drifts" and "Wounded Hearts" maintain the bands urgency while growing more musically introspective. Wandering, searching guitar lines and pensive overall moods bring to mind the punk/college rock hybrid years of early SST bands like Hüsker Dü or the heavy-hearted ire of early post-punk pioneers Embrace and Rites of Spring. The lightning-speed gallop of the drums and an overdriven wall of guitar noise push tracks like "It Might Hit First" more into the hardcore territory of the first record, but more sophisticated tracks like "Morals" with its glistening piano and even a neo-folk/post-industrial-leaning instrumental "Interlude" dont take away from the albums consistency. By the time the title track rolls around to close the album, Iceage have developed a record reaching out in many directions without straining to make any points. Hearing a young band find its voice like this makes for incredibly exciting music, possibly more exciting in practice than the bombast of the groups earliest material. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 4 Title: Plowing Into the Field of Love Released: 2014-10-06 Tracks: 12 Duration: 47:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 On My Fingers (05:13) 2 The Lords Favorite (03:49) 3 How Many (03:21) 4 Glassy Eyed, Dormant and Veiled (04:33) 5 Stay (04:14) 6 Let It Vanish (03:58) 7 Abundant Living (02:30) 8 Forever (04:51) 9 Cimmerian Shade (04:33) 10 Against the Moon (03:27) 11 Simony (03:17) 12 Plowing into the Field of Love (04:03) |
| Plowing Into the Field of Love : Allmusic album Review : On their first two albums, Iceage sounded like they were young, smart, and very angry, which was fitting enough since the Danish quartet were still in their teens when they cut their first record. But on their third album, 2014s Plowing into the Field of Love, the group has clearly been going through some changes. The intense, hardcore-influenced attack of New Brigade and Youre Nothing has given way to a different but similarly passionate sound, with acoustic guitars, piano, and trumpets working their way into the mix, while arrangements leave room for a bit more open space. On numbers like "On My Fingers," "Abundant Living," and "How Many," the results bear a certain resemblance to what Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds conjured on mid-period albums like The Good Son and Tender Prey, though the purposeful slur of Elias Bender Rønnenfelts vocals is something else again (given how much he sings about drinking on this album, maybe its just a matter of getting into character). Blues and folk influences run through Plowing into the Field of Love, but theyve been twisted by a funhouse mirror into new and sometimes disquieting shapes, while a stylized, arty approach to the arrangements shares space with shards of the bands sharply focused rock energy. Jens Benz and Nis Bysteds introduction is atmospheric but uncluttered, finding clean lines inside Iceages poetic howl, and the instrumentalists -- guitarist Johan Surrballe Wieth, bassist Jakob Tvilling Pless, and drummer Dan Kjær Nielsen -- take to this music with the right balance of skill and abandon. Iceage have done a fair bit of reinvention on Plowing into the Field of Love, but if the sound is less brutal, its no less challenging, and emotionally this hits as hard as anything theyve released to date. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 4 Title: Beyondless Released: 2018-05-04 Tracks: 10 Duration: 40:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Hurrah (04:15) 2 Pain Killer (03:39) 3 Under the Sun (04:31) 4 The Day the Music Dies (03:48) 5 Plead the Fifth (03:10) 6 Catch It (05:44) 7 Thieves Like Us (03:50) 8 Take It All (03:50) 9 Showtime (04:05) 10 Beyondless (03:57) |
| Beyondless : Allmusic album Review : The fourth album by Danish punk upstarts Iceage is a study in sonic evolution, from the abrasive chaos of their debut to their more thoughtful 2018 incarnation. Their progression has been impressive, hopefully staving off the divisive nature that comes with changing direction; sharp turns are likely to perturb subsections of fans, but here the rudder was adjusted early enough that longtime admirers might have seen it coming since album two. Over time, space that has been carved out of the songwriting has given way to the overall density of the lyrical content, meaning that while the delivery might not be as urgent on Beyondless, it lands with a new degree of clarity. Nevertheless, the album opens with all guns blazing, as "Hurrah" rattles off on peoples insatiable, sometimes celebratory, relationship with violence, and does so in a sardonic explosion of gratuity. Leading straight into "Painkiller," the most prominent example of who Iceage are here; its catchy, its bombastic, and once it has its hooks in it wont let go, although all of this is still underpinned by Rønnenfelts signature drawl. The rest of the record plays out with an abundance of dramatic flair -- even if the pacing gradually reduces toward the back half -- riddling the run time with the slow angst of "Catch It," the uneasy cabaret of "Showtime," or the call-and-response-baiting closer "Beyondless." It would be easy to lament the raw energy of previous Iceage records, but if they had continued in that vein they would have risked obscurity by now; instead, theyre a band who refuse to stop moving and exploring their sound, emerging every time with a more refined approach to the music. That they can achieve this with integrity should be celebrated, except maybe this time with a bottle of red wine instead of cheap beer. | ||