ICS Vortex

Storm Seeker (Century Media)
By Mike Delano

It’s pretty much sacrilegious for any record reviewer worth his or her patched denim jacket to quote anything from a band’s press release in any way except to mock it. We are writers after all, not transcribers, and we have the quill pens to prove it. This writer, though, is not above a little borrowing, and when the press for Storm Seeker calls the album “a havoc of groovy metal,” that’s a statement I can get behind. If you’re of the (increasingly unpopular, it would seem by looking at many metal sites) mind that metal doesn’t always have to be about doom and gloom or suicide or smashing the system or entrails ripped from an etc., etc., then this set of mostly straightforward rockers should be right up your alley. This debut from the ex-Dimmu Borgir, ex-Borknagar bassist/vocalist ICS Vortex is at times surprisingly traditional in its approach, given the extreme leanings of his previous work. The laser-show worthy “Windward,” with its radio-catchy riff and “woah-oh-ohs” even approaches a classic rock vibe. It all works great on this faster material (“Dogsmacked,” opener “The Blackmobile,” which is the heaviest and most memorable track), but his voice doesn’t have the power to carry the slower material (like “Oil in Water” or the title track). Keep it fast, keep it groovy.
(www.centurymedia.com)