Icon Of Sin - Icon Of Sin - review
Icon Of Sin - Icon Of Sin - review
Tracklist
01. Icon Of Sin02. Road Rage
03. Shadow Dancer
04. Unholy Battleground
05. Nightbreed
06. Virtual Empire
07. Pandemic Euphoria
08. Clouds Over Gotham
09. Arcade Generation
10. Hagakure (Intro)
11. The Last Samurai
12. The Howling
13. Survival Instinct
A review by
tominator May 12, 2021
Coincidentally, I do too. So, let's be clear right from the start: I really like this album. Heavy metal is still one of my favourite subgenres, but at the same time I've also noticed throughout the last couple of years that I'm getting more picky with these types of record. Hence, why there are often quite a few heavy metal albums at the bottom of my end of the year lists. Well, there's that and the fact that they are just awful anyway (regardless of genre). This one, though, absolutely hits the mark for me.
Production-wise, Icon Of Sin does deliver solid work. Guitars have a pronounced classic heavy metal vibe to them and the bass does its job well to thicken the sound. As for the vocals, they are clear and well mixed in terms of how audible they are, and the same goes for the drums. Personally, I would have liked the sound of them even more if the drumheads were slightly tighter in sound. But, just to be clear, that's personal preference speaking. Overall, this album sounds good production-wise.
Now, let's talk about the thing others have already talked about as well (and I did a bit as well at the start of this review): the vocals. Raphael Mendes' performance can only be described as clearly inspired by Bruce Dickinson; however, while I don't think he reaches the same level as that metal titan's work, he still delivers a phenomenal performance. It oozes energy and joy, and it's one of Icon Of Sin's strongest aspects. The rest of the band doesn't leave it at that though. They deliver some fun and enjoyable riffs and catchy choruses. The love and passion for classic heavy metal shines brightly throughout the whole record. Expect touches of Iron Maiden (obviously), Rainbow, Judas Priest, Cloven Hoof, Helloween and many more. This really is an amalgamation of a bunch of classic metal influences.
And I do really appreciate that as a classic heavy metal fan. However, I wouldn't be surprised that because of this, some might not exactly share that praise for Icon Of Sin. The many influences I mentioned earlier do result in songs that have distinct vibes. Basically, if you're not a fan of one of the influences mentioned above, it might result in certain songs falling flat for you.
The lyrics aren't spectacular, but they are fine. They serve their purpose and they do have their moments. "Arcade Generation" for instance: a band singing about their love for arcade halls and machines might sound silly, but it's fun and adds some personality. That song has a classic hair metal vibe to it, and it works.
So what's the conclusion? This is a good record through and through. It manages to mix and match various styles and flavours in a compelling way. The album moves at a brisk pace and offers enough variety without losing any cohesion to its overall sound. Icon Of Sin is one of those records that really brightens my day and immediately got a second spin after I had just finished the first one: a promising debut from a band I look forward to hearing from again in the future.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Comments
Comments:
10
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 Posts: 64503 |
Posts: 64503
Good album, seems Portuguese seekers has some knowledge how do sing as Bruce does. City of the Golden gates
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 354  |
Posts: 354
I really like Raphael's voice, but IMO the songs are really uninspired. I wanted to like this, but nope thanks...
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Posts: 1695  |
Posts: 1695
Raphael Mendes gained internet fame by making YouTube videos called 'What if Bruce Dickinson sang for [insert band name here]?' and there's quite a lot of them too. That's how I discovered him, how I found out that this band and album was in the making and why I suggested the band to be here on MS. So no matter how you twist and turn it this album sounds a lot like Iron Maiden and Raphael's voice could easily fool anyone who aren't to familiar with Maiden into thinking it is a Maiden album. So either you like it on that premise or you don't for the same reason probably depends on how big of a Maiden fan you are and how critical you are of bands copying their style from bigger more famous bands. Just like tominator I'm one of those that really enjoy this album and it's one of my most played lately. Only song I don't care for is Nightbreed because the chorus gets to repetitive but otherwise the album has a very good flow and Raphael has a great voice so for me I gladly let him substitute for Bruce since we don't know if Maiden will release any more music.
---- Liebe ist für alle da.
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 Posts: 1101 |
Posts: 1101 Written by Callisto on 12.05.2021 at 09:47 That uninspired feeling might be because they draw so many influences from other bands. I think at that point you can look at it in two ways. Either that it feels uninspired because you've heard a lot in that style/vibe before. Or (in my case) you like this a lot because it actually manages to bring all those influences together in a cohesive package without blatant copying. As an example: last year's Cloven Hoof album was solid, but because of the wrong reasons (imo). It blatantly copied elements from Maiden's Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son album. Icon Of Sin on the other hand doesn't really do that. They get the vibe and feel right from their many inspirations but are not blatantly copying riffs. Also the fact that we are talking about quite a few different influences from many different bands make it even more impressive that they make it sound like their own (cohesive) style. And sure if you know a lot of the classic bands, this will feel very familiar. That's in fact why I scored the originality factor (slightly) lower than the other aspects.
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 Posts: 9636 |
Posts: 9636
I put this album along with a bunch of others in my queue and let them run. Once this one came on I thought "Huh, I don't remember putting any Iron Maiden in here". The music's pretty good, a lot of these could be fillers on some actual Maiden album.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Posts: 354 |
Posts: 354 Written by tominator on 12.05.2021 at 10:52 My feeling is that all those elements and different influences are not cohesive. I kind of like that they didn't juts ripped Iron Maiden riffs off, but the songs as a whole feel badly put together. I was hoping for better compositions I guess
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Posts: 1101 Written by Callisto on 12.05.2021 at 17:16 Fair enough, not everyone can like the same things. 
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Posts: 354 Written by tominator on 12.05.2021 at 17:24 Yep, anyway there's potential here and I hope they keep going...
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 Posts: 7934 |
Posts: 7934
This popped on my Facebook newsfeed when one of the tracks gotten in Heavy Metal playlist on Spotify. Though a lot has been said above, for me - it sounds decent. Great review, nonetheless.
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Posts: 249  |
Posts: 249
What a fcking deadringer though  
---- Life is all the pain we endeavour.
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