There are several principles by which the band Iceburn operates: They play heavy and doom metal; in doing so, they improvise, which also means that they proceed collectively; in their music, but especially lyrically, they attempt a strange connection with ancient ideas. This evocation of myths is placed in a modern, contemporary context through her music. In times of the pandemic, that is perhaps a very nice and comforting idea.
When you drive past a pharmacy or a doctor’s office, you often see a picture of a snake winding around a staff above the entrance. This sign goes back to the Greek god of healing, Asclepios. “Asclepius” is also the name of Iceburn’s new album.
Perhaps this title is to be interpreted as critical of rule. After all, Washington DC is not just compared to ancient Rome; The simply unjust character of class society in the United States was also clearly evident during Donald Trump’s tenure, when people complained on television about the government’s health policy. But who knows a certain “Asclepius” and how he relates to our hospitals, medical practices and pharmacies?
If you come from the Melvins, you might like Iceburn’s music right away. You know: metal, punk and hardcore. And here, too, improvisation is involved. Iceburn was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah in the early 1990s. The Melvins hail from the Seattle, Washington area and later made their home in San Francisco and finally LA, California. Iceburn have released several albums since 1992, starting with “Firon”, then “Hephaestus” and “Poetry of Fire”. Always on small and independent labels, for some time with Southern Lord Records, an internationally well-known label for heavy metal, doom and drone, where bands like Boris, Earth, Lair of the Minotaur and Sunn O))) released their music to have. Iceburn’s last album was released 20 years ago.
Iceburn play and improvise on their new album in such a way that their two songs, each a little longer than a quarter of an hour, remain pleasantly audible throughout. That means, with “Healing the Ouroboros” and “Dahlia Rides the Firebird” you only get to hear two new songs, but you can still be under the spell of the music for over half an hour. To achieve exactly that seems to be the avant-garde claim of the band. They create a kind of their own frequency that artificially goes far beyond the usual short units of the culture industry such as the three-minute songs on the radio and on the Internet.
Of course, this also annoys the band around guitarist Gentry Densley, because you don’t have the patience for it or you would only find it for live music. But concentrating entirely on their interplay, this band creates that wavelength on “Asclepius” that simply requires patience when listening.
Perhaps, as in the song, a mythical ouroboros – a snake that bites its own tail and an alchemical symbol for a closed cycle – can heal through music. And maybe a dahlia will soon ride the beautiful firebird again as in the second title. You can hear that now.
Iceburn: »Asclepius« (Southern Lord Records)
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