Reviews
2005-08-20
From the very first track you find yourself hooked up to the gothic-rock that this band from Portugal does.
The band was formed in 1999 and was then called “Blue Obsession” , it went through a lot of lineup changes until it got to the existing one now titled “Icon”.
The deep malancholic voice of vocalist/guitarist Jonny Icon, the electronic sound that flows out of Adam Nox’s keyboards, the semi-punkrockish drumming by Mike Throne, the riffs of both Sean Rose (bass) and Sebastian Noir (guitars)- all create an emotionaly charged atmosphere with yet a simple essence.
Each of the songs in this album has a catchy chorus regadrless of the melancholic lyrics, good examples of this would be the first track “Black Rose” and the fifth track “Angel”.
The heavyness, provided by the guitars, combine beautifully with the keyboard melodies and Jonny’s deep voice (which reminds me at times of Alex Band from The Calling) in a way that sounds so popish that I think they could have easily released a single and it probobly would have done well in the charts and would have contributed to those ever-so-monotonese ones.
The highlights of this album are the opener “Black Rose” (which contains the formula of most/all the songs in this album- mellow verses followed by heavier parts that pave the way to a distorted chorus) , the 5th track “Angel” which I also think is the best one and the 6th track “Remember” with a female vocalist named Ana.
Other songs I tend to like are “black Cage” (which competes with “Angel” on the title of my favorite) and the ballad-like “Who do you hurt now?” with it’s acoustic guitars, electronic sound of keyboards and vocal variety – all show a more tender side of Icon.
Icon present the listener atmospheric gothic rock that is slightly pop at times and their future seems promising- wether they take their music to heavier grounds along with an even more electronic sound or stay the same and even go more mainstream.
Ofer Vayner
