THE GREAT DIVIDE

An excellent debut album by this dynamic group in the vein of DT. The vocalist Josh Pincus has an expressive and theatrical voice similar to Michael Sadler, of Saga fame. The music is pure prog-metal and some reviewers say that the drummer Hal Aponte sounds like Neil Peart in 2112. Very enjoyable stuff for everyone who likes their prog music with a touch of metal.

The US band ICE AGE was founded in 1993. This is their promising debut album. ICE AGE is impressive musicians and the music contains heavy riffing, great memorable melodies and a lot of complexity. Their music is somewhere between very heavy melodic progressive rock and progressive metal with many changing time signatures and great arrangements. Their influences are BLACK SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE, KANSAS, PINK FLOYD, RUSH and YES. They're also sometimes reminiscent to EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER, JOURNEY and QUEENSRYCHE, but most of all do they remind of DREAM THEATER ca. "Awake". The vocalist Josh Pincus is somewhat reminiscent to Steve Walsh of KANSAS, but only a little. He's very skilled and has a powerful voice, but it's quite unusual, but after a while you'll get used to him. The guitarist Jimmy Pappas is very good and the rhythm section is excellent. Jimmy is actually one of the better guitarists I've heard in the prog metal genre. The highlights are "Perpetual Child", "Sleepwalker", the instrumental "Spare Chicken Parts" that contains a very good drum solo, "The Bottom Line", my favorite "Ice Age" that is over 11 minutes, "One Look Away" and "To Say Goodbye". It's actually the two instrumentals that are the best tracks. A good thing about the songs is the catchy and memorable choruses. The guitarist Jimmy Pappas designed the beautiful cover image. It would surely be nice to hear what they can achieve with their next album. Considering that this is a debut album it's very convincing. I'm sure that ICE AGE has a very bright future, but it's with a slight hesitation I give this CD a four star rating (out of 5). But after all this is an outstanding album that probably will end up as one of the highlights of prog metal in 1999, so buy and enjoy!

I bought this CD last month because of the review provided by Progarchives. I find no regret at all having this album in my prog collection. Thanks, reviewer! I intentionally did not write the review right after listening to this album just to "pre-empt" my mind with previous review so that what I write here is purely what I experience, what I feel and what I think about the album. Typically, I never read others until I post mine. Just to give an independent opinion. People are different ..

This album is an excellent debut album in the vein of progmet music (the kind of DREAM THEATER, SYMPHONY X). For those of you who like this kind of music, this album is a MUST have. "Perpetual Child" opens the album with heavy guitar riffs with stunning keyboard sound. I think the keyboard that accentuates the song, while the guitar plays the background riffs at intro. The short guitar solo just before vocal enters is fascinating. When vocal enters, it's definitely DT stuff especially on the way drum is played and singing style, even though the voice is different with LaBrie. I think the voice of its lead singer is sort of STYX vocalist, Dennis de Young (?) with more of high tone voice. The overall track is keyboard-based. Great composition!

"Sleepwalker" is another good track with great guitar and drumming; good variety of melodies and riffs. "Spare Chicken Parts" is an excellent instrumental piece with stunning lead guitar and riffs played harmoniously with keyboard. This track reminds me to RUSH' "Yyz" with much more varieties in melody. The drum solo in the middle of the song reminds me to NEIL PEART. The keyboard solo that follows is really wonderful. Interesting composition. Absolutely, this track is a masterpiece! I even advise you to spin track 4 first before you enjoy other tracks.

"Because of You" indicates the effort to escape from typical prog met music. So, this track is just straight rock with sometime the band puts sort of metal flavor at the end of the track. "The Bottom Line" is opened with soft keyboard sound and great riffs when the music enters. "Ice Age" is the song that I expect would represent the band's "theme". It starts with soft keyboard sound followed with guitar "fills" and vocals. It's not as excellent as I expect, the music flows so flat with not much dynamic. "To Say Goodbye Part I & II" are much more dynamic: speedy lead guitar and keyboard (and excellent combined sounds between the two) with high and low points, good melody and great piano. I personally love these tracks. These two tracks are well positioned to conclude this album.

Overall, this album is excellent: tight composition, great musicianship (especially guitar, keyboard and drum) and excellent performance. The only thing lacking is the production quality: the volume control is too high and there are some distorted sounds due to this high volume. Mixing on some segments are also lacking. However, this album is RECOMMENDED. Gatot Widayanto, Indonesia.

Holy Moly what a dynamic band and what a singer

This is the debut album by this american prog/metal band, and what a debut, not very often you listen to an album like this one. Instrumentally this band kick every one's ass, unbeliveble what the drumer can do with the instrument, not to mention the guitarist witch is among the best i ever hered from prog/metal genre, Jimmy Pappas, the guitarist, has some great chops and a large variety of styles, the vocal parts are sometimes theatrical in the same style of what did Sadler in Saga, and maybe not everyone like him because he has a unique voice and a bassy sound. Absolute every track is mindblowing, the instrumental Spare chicken shows the talent of this band. Nothing to add just get it, a must of any collection.

I'd recommend this to anyone who want's to listen prog-metal at the highest level. 4 stars for sure

I don't remember why I bought this album a few years ago, it must have been a guess. I never heard of Ice Age before and when I see right now how few people who visit progarchives know this band up till now it's actually a shame, or should I say a pity. There must be something wrong with their promotion activities because we are talking about a tremendous band here that deserves much more attention and fans. Fortunately there is progarchives where you can give your opinion especially for these kind of bands who are extremely good but have not managed to get the reputation they deserve. With this band I have the impression that despite the (justifiably) high valued reviews they get it doesn't lead to more name and fame and more reviews of progarchives visitors. Incomprehensible and unfair I have to say. About the album: this is of the highest standard and then I'm talking about the general standard and about the idividual songs.

This is what I am looking for when I want good prog metal. We all (or almost all) know DREAM THEATER of course and that's a very good standard for prog metal, I am a big fan myself. But I can tell you, though this band is not a copy of DT, it's a different kind of prog metal but it's hardly less in quality !! The songs are great, very good compositions with lots of opportunity for the great Jimmy Pappas to show his talent. There are some longer songs and I love longer songs, they are usually the better songs on progalbums; this is no different on this album. Perpatual child and Ice Age are the absolute highlights of this masterpiece. But what's maybe the most delightful thing about this album: the rest is hardly any less.

I had to stand up for this band because they deserve it. I don't urge people to go to the store and buy a certain album. If they don't it's their loss. In this case they are missing out on a masterpiece !

I'm one of the select few who feels that their second album "Liberation" is as good as this their debut. Again the playing ability of this band is extremely high, it's the vocals that still bother me when he really lets go. He is a theatrical singer with a great range, just not my cup of tea, although songs like "Because Of You" and One Look Away" where he sings normally, I like a lot. The cover art is fantastic ! The length of this album at almost 75 minutes begs the question : Why ?

"Perpetual Child" opens heavily with drums and bass before synths arrive. Scorching guitar 1 1/2 minutes in, and vocals a minute later as the song calms down. It does pick back up with aggressive vocals. I lke the guitar 7 1/2 minutes in. "Sleepwalker" features those abrasive vocals i'm not a fan of. The guitar melodies are relentless with a ripping solo before 3 minutes. "Join" has a more uplifting sound with vocal melodies. This is contrasted with the more passionate vocals with a fuller sound. I like the mellow passages better. "Spare Chicken Parts" is an instrumental and my second favourite song. It opens with a few words (clucks) from a chicken. This one is all over the place including a drum solo. Quite the display though. "Because Of You" is another fav of mine. It's a bright, catchy tune with the guitar grinding away.

"The Bottom Line" has some impressive guitar 2 1/2 & 4 minutes in. Not a fan of this one though. "Ice Age" opens with spacey sounds, and once it gets going there are lots of synths and drums with tempo shifts a plenty. "One Look Away" is my favourite song, a cool, mellow track with synths and piano. Tasteful guitar 2 minutes in. Check out the guitar that goes on and on after 4 minutes. This is such an uplifting song and the lyrics are a must read. "Miles To Go" opens with some great guitar. A synth solo before 1 1/2 minutes. I like the sound a minute later when it calms down. More great guitar 4 minutes in. "To Say Goodbye" is divided into 2 parts. Part 1 "Worthless Words" is a rocking instrumental that opens with some fast paced piano melodies. Part 2 "On Our Way" has some good crunch to it, although the climate changes often. Good song.

3.5 stars. It's hard not to be impressed with this band and this recording. Well done !