Ikarie - Cuerpos En Sombra - review
Ikarie - Cuerpos En Sombra - review
Tracklist
01. Barro02. Remedio
03. Cenizas
04. La Criatura
05. Despertar
06. Está En Tu Cabeza
07. Redención
08. En El Río
09. Maldición
10. La Herencia
A review by
nikarg October 05, 2021
The music of Ikarie is post-metal of the Cult Of Luna and Amenra kind, but there is also a strong death/doom undertone of the Peaceville Three kind. The band challenges the listener in every way possible: sonically, emotionally, and spiritually. They have developed a philosophical concept that they call “cosmic existentialism” and it is “about our freedom and responsibility as a rational species, aware of its insignificant, terrifying and astonishing existence in the universe”. The lyrics denounce stigmas and preconceptions, touching on subjects such as mental illness, emotional trauma, inner ghosts, and scars and wounds left untreated. If you don’t speak Spanish, you unfortunately miss a significant part of the immersive experience that is Cuerpos En Sombra.
Like every noteworthy post-metal band, Ikarie play very well the card of tension-building by using subdued intros and interludes between tracks and then leading them to eruptions that are uncompromising and visceral. “Está En Tu Cabeza”, for example, spends half its runtime brewing in darkness and hinting at an explosive climax that - when it does come - leaves you crushed by the gigantic guitars, the pounding drums, and the tortured growls. At the same time, some of the guitar melodies on this album are truly heart-wrenching; every time I listen to the outros of tracks like “Cenizas” or “La Criatura”, I feel like I will not be able to emotionally handle how devastatingly beautiful they are.
If I can mention some criticism - and this is a personal thing - I would have preferred it if some of the short, interlude-like songs such as “Despertar” and “En El Río” had been turned into full(er) songs. There are some really nice ideas there that feel somewhat unfinished to me. It also seems to me that “Remedio” would be more fitting as an intro track for the album so that “La Herencia” would close it by coming full circle, at least sonically. That said, Ikarie are telling a story and it might have been that they wanted to put emphasis on the cohesion of that story when they decided on the tracklist order.
For fans of post-metal, doom, and/or sludge, this album is a must-listen. It is at the same time draining and fulfilling, soothing and caustic, agonizing and cathartic. It also appears that Cuerpos En Sombra is the first chapter of a trilogy and I, for one, am eagerly anticipating to listen what Ikarie have in store for the two parts that will follow.
“Carne y marea
Sangre invisible
Cuando arda
No dolerá
No quedará
Más dolor
Por quemar”
Comments
Comments:
16
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99 users
 Posts: 8004 |
Posts: 8004
Yes, an excellent album! I enjoyed their demo/EP/whatever you want to call it, but they really surpassed all my expectations there. Edit: those weeping guitar leads (like on Redención) remind me a lot of what Mar De Grises used to do, by the way. And that's a very good thing 
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 Posts: 6672 |
Posts: 6672
I remember liking Ikarie quite alot when hearing them on Clandestine Cuts, so from what I have heard so far, and from reading your review, I might look into this one 
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Posts: 63  |
Posts: 63 Quote: Damn, that's a band I haven't heard about in a while. Now I have this record AND all of Mar de Grises to revisit!
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Posts: 20  |
Posts: 20
Following this band since clandestine cuts only for being spanish and fit for my tastes, but song after song the quality is there and, well, worth it totally. I agree with them in talking about one of biggest problem these days: the suicide. Very very good luck for these iberian guys.
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Posts: 1376  |
Posts: 1376
This would have been an excellent addition to Soulcrusher. Great album!
---- That rug really tied the room together, did it not? 
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Posts: 5826  |
Posts: 5826
Woah, I listened to the three available tracks on BC and this sounds lit. Very Cult Of Luna-like indeed. Most regular post-metal bands TRY to imitate CoL's sound but don't quite get it, because they lack the most important ingredient to make it all interesting: songwriting. But theses guys seem to capture the essence of it. Looking forward for the rest.
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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Posts: 410  |
Posts: 410
Will have to check this out.
---- "Nullum unquam exstitit magnum igenium sine aliqua dementia [there was never great genius without some madness]." Best of Metal A-Z: http://metalstorm.net/users/lists.php?user_id=158339
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 Posts: 64469 |
Posts: 64469
Parlous du spagnolo Nik Potential but it would have more value if lyrics be in engleze
---- 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: 8004 Written by Bad English on 06.10.2021 at 11:09 I'd rather have well-written lyrics in the band's native language than lousy, grammatically incorrect lyrics in English like a lot of bands do. Especially when the lyrics deal with emotionally-charged topics like on this one. If you're interested in the lyrical content of the music you listen to, nothing prevents you from doing a bit of research. It's not like we don't have the Internet.
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Posts: 64469
Yes but then band can loose fans, because only folk metal can do it. I have no problem whit lyrics though, unless band don't come whit video news
---- 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: 8004 Written by Bad English on 06.10.2021 at 11:55 This may be true for some genres, but somehow I doubt post and doom metal fit that description
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Posts: 64469 Written by Deadsoulman on 06.10.2021 at 14:24 It can, newer generation fans
---- 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: 8256 |
Posts: 8256
@BE: To answer your question, I speak Spanish and that contributes a lot to my enjoyment of Ikarie. But I also loved Kanonenfieber's album whose lyrics are in German, a language that I don't speak. However, there are many ways to translate whole pages nowadays, let alone a few lyrics. As Deadsoulman said, I'd rather have well written and thought of lyrics, even if they are in a language that I don't speak. I am not lazy when it comes to music, if it is worth it I am happy to spend more time to find out what it talks about. Sometimes - and in certain styles - the lyrics are to me as important as the music.
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Posts: 4  |
Posts: 4
Hi there! Thank you very much for this review and your comments! We love this site About the lyrics, I totally agree with Deadsoulman and Nikarg, nothing to add. Having said that, we are translating all our lyrics and we will post them in English on our YouTube account, in fact the lyrics of “Cenizas” are already available in the Avantgarde Music premiere video. We are aware that English is the lingua franca of our time, so we will endeavor to provide translations. Our music is deeply linked to the landscapes of our biography and to complex mental states that we are only capable of expressing in our mother tongue, so…Thanks for the support! 
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 Posts: 15359 |
Posts: 15359 Written by Mortimer on 06.10.2021 at 22:42 jajaja small world stuff. End of year, Deadsoulman sent me a pm with a link to bandcamp suggesting I check it out. I liked what I heard, went and purchased it. While pressing the button to complete that transaction, I see a written "why do you like this album" from Star'V linking the MS review on the bandcamp page... and follow the link to find the band commenting on the review. Nice sequence of events. Weird to see something in this style from Spain that I'm not hearing about from Dani at Discos Macarras.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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