Review Summary: A literally laughable vocal performance bogs down this riff-fest.
Stalagmite of Ice is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it kind of album. This album has many aspects going for it, and many working against it. The amount of enjoyment one derives from listening is completely personal. One may find the aggression excellent and thoroughly entertaining, while others will be incapable of stopping laughing at the vocal performance.
The best factor of this album is that it is an absolute riff-fest. Plenty of variety and speed is to be found in this offering, which will please any thrash fan. Songs are easily distinguished from one another, and the album is highly aggressive. The rough production may be off-putting to some, but for most it simply adds to the overall performance. The performances complement each other quite well, with the harsh, heavily distorted guitar being backed by a noticeable bass performance and furious, pounding drums.
A major issue is the vocal performance. To be quite frank, it's awful. Look no further than
Nightmare Theatre to understand exactly what I mean. They seem to wish to emulate aggressive shouting normally found in thrash metal, however it sounds quite goofy, for lack of a better word, and will likely cause laughter the first time they are heard. Any of the painful falsetto screams simply compound this flaw, and some listeners may find this hurdle more of a fortress, and be incapable of seeing past it.
Overall, if one is able to look beyond the painfully bad vocal performance, they will find a crushing, aggressive, and overall enjoyable riff-fest. Unfortunately, that obstacle is much larger than it sounds, and many will simply walk away laughing.
Pros:
+Fun, speedy, enjoyable
+Raw production adds well to album
Cons:
-Atrocious vocal performance is hard to overlook
Highlights:
Sabretooth
Children of the Corn
Lowlights:
Nightmare Theatre
