THE GREAT DIVIDE

On all accounts I shall say that ICE AGE, released a very solid album in vain of the true progressive metal spirit and that of the 90's retro classic character to their music. THE GREAT DIVIDE is a 74min powerhouse filled with speed, majesty and a whole lot of grandeur. Everything from the Guitar, Bass, Drums and keyboards are played with such vigor and conviction. Also, the vocals by JOSH PINCUS are clearly very powerful and range from being as graceful as a humming bird to being earth shattering-glacial cracking like a raw and powerful banshee in total command. Needless to say, PINCUS is a great vocalist and he borders on the vocal style progressions of RUSSEL ALLEN (SYMPHONY X) JAMES LaBRIE (DREAM THEATER) and even has wisps of GEDDY LEE (RUSH) as well. All in all, a fantastic vocalist is at the helm of the ICE AGE ship and I even think that fans of GEOFF TATE (QUEENSR'CHE) and ROB HALFORD (JUDAS PREIST) will really accept PINCUS into their Musical hearts. He can shriek like a madman...in a good way of course.'

Furthermore, and to get to the point, I had a lot of fun listening to this album. I was immediately captivated by the album art work, which spans from back to front of the album itself and i felt that it will surely set the tone before listening, if one were to gaze at the panoramic cover art for just a few moments. A beautiful Divide indeed. ;)

Not long after my excessive gazing of a beautiful skull baring bridge and majestic glacial mountains, I commenced 'to Listen to the opening track, PERPETUAL CHILD. I will attest that, for now, this is the best track on the album. I fell in love with this 10:29min epic opener instantly. The listener is presented with lavish keyboards that constantly change in tempo. The drumming is outstanding by HAL APONTE. APONTE is a serious, elite drummer who rivals the speed of SCOTT TRAVIS (X RACER, JUDAS PREIST) and JASON RULLO (SYMPHONY X). 'Simply mind-blowing how fast and skilled APONTE is. "HAL can open the pod bay doors", which the listener will hear and understand on the 8:54 beastly instrumental SPARE CHICKEN PARTS. 'The instrumental has a clever movie quote from 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY that further introduces HAL's skill as a drummer much in vain of the supercomputer HAL 9000. Very clever :) Moving on, the electric guitar soars mightily from JIMMY PAPAS, who's playing style reminds me a lot of MICHAEL ROMEO's (SYMPHONY X) and the infamous JOHN PETRUCCI (DREAM THEATER.) Truly, PAPPAS is a real treat to listen to, not just on PERPETUAL CHILD, but the whole album really. He is a noodling wiz. As for the bass I was really happy with efforts from ARRON DiCESARE. Very clean, pulsing sound that you can hear very clearly in the bands music and that is something I really love about ICE AGE's overall sound. ICE AGE do not saturate their sound in keyboards and guitars, so the bass is barely audible. I think we can all say that DREAM THEATER suffer from these tendencies...poor JOHN MYUNG :( Lastly, the vocals are superb from Mr. PINCUS. The lyrics in this album are quite dense and are of rapid fire purportions at most times on THE GREAT DIVIDE, but it's so incredibly cool to listen to PINCUS poor his heart out into your ears. It's a lot of fun, even though the subject matter is apocalyptic and about fighting for survival (being on the right side of the great divide), but I'm sure you(the listener) will have a few head bangs for just the sheer love of the sound of his voice in relation to the music despite the doomy subject matter.'

This

Thus, the album THE GREAT DIVIDE is feel find and I think a lot the prog metal nut cases (like me) are truly gonna enjoy this album. ICE AGE's THE GREAT DIVIDE surprisingly has a bit of age to it being 14 years old at this time, but fans of the older albums like AWAKE (DREAM THEATER) and DIVINE WINGS OF 'TRAGEDY (SYMPHONY X) will surely enjoy this retro treat. Actually, ICE AGE's THE GREAT DIVIDE is a very typical 90's sounding prog metal album. Nothing new or ground-breaking innovation with this release, which is why it really doesn't merit a masterpiece rating cause it is quite typical of 90's sounding prog metal, but it's still a quality listen. Enjoy powerful bass lines, incredible guitar solos, elite drumming and very rangy vocals. THE GREAT DIVIDE has it all, but it's all too familiar.'

4/5'

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