Review Summary: Nearly a decade into their career, Icarus Witch have finally found their "overnight success!"
Melodic Metal Fused with Modern Hard Rock
When the original singer of the world's biggest heavy metal band was ready to relaunch his touring career after a nearly 2 decade hiatus in North America he called upon
Icarus Witch to be both his direct support as well as his backing band! I could end this review right there and you'd know that Icarus Witch has more metal cred than they could possibly spend in one lifetime.
But Icarus Witch are not ones to rest on their laurels, instead continually pushing the boundaries and genre limitations out of the way as they forge their own style in a scene that loves to smother its favorites to keep them churning in a tiny "underground" eddy far from the rapids and smooth currents of the mainstream.
On RISE, the band's 5th CD for Cleopatra Record, Icarus Witch have rapidly progressed beyond even this long-time follower's expectations. The music sounds as if it has been hyper-injected by steroids with the addition of new drummer Tom Wierzbicky and 2nd guitarist Dave Watson (who also handles production duties with extreme proficiency). But the real story hear is the switch of the Witch frontman, Matthew Bizilia for Christopher Shaner. While their former singer is a highly skilled wailer with pipes of steel, incoming vocalist Shaner possesses a full arsenal of vocal and songwriting tools that make his, blusier, gutsy rock metal croon a bit more palatable to a potentially wider fan base (something no "true" fan should begrudge their favorite artists).
On tracks like "(We Are) The New Revolution" "Tragedy" and "Say When" the band have obviously struck gold in the songwriting department creating a sound that is truly their own while invoking the ghosts of soulful masters like Badlands and Empire-era Queensryche yet passed through a very modern filter not unlike contemporaries Sixx A.M. or Black Tide, two disparate acts each representing the apex of melodic class within their respective subgenre. While the sleazy grind of "In The Dark" sounds like a stripper anthem straight from the Coverdale school.
But the burning question seems to be...are they still "metal?" As ridiculous as this might sound given their pedigree, song titles, sinister album art, the answer is a resounding YES! Five seconds in to the album's opening barn burner "The End" and all fears are laid to rest as the Pittsburgh crew stealthily flex their metallic musicianship on a display of guitar and drum precision that challenges the progressively inclined just enough, without challenging the casual fan of hard rock -- no small feat to balance the two. With Somewhere In Time meets Moving Pictures harmonic time shift, the Witch show the faithful and doubters simultaneously that they are the real deal.
Later in the album we get cuts like the classy ballad "Nothing Is Forever" that brings to mind a haunting Alice In Chains meets Uriah Heep vibe, if such a thing can be imagined. Not a weak track on the record and the closing "Last Call For Living" continues the streak of anthemic sing-along choruses that are arena ready.
If you're a fan of classy traditional heavy metal or even the more adventurous modern melodic rock and AOR (look it up yanks), you'll get more than your moneys worth on this hard rocking masterpiece by a band who are clearly destined to RISE above the pack hit the next level of success they have fought so hard to achieve.
