From Langley, British Columbia, Canada comes Icosian, a progressive metalcore 5-piece who have just released their debut EP “When I Stopped Calling It Home.” Despite being some of the band’s first material, Icosian shows no signs of struggle when capturing melodic qualities and channeling them into a collection of highly catchy tracks…those already familiar with Icosian may call it “addicting.”
“When I Stopped Calling Home” is a great starting point for Icosian despite ending around the 18 minute mark. Within five tracks Icosian displays mastery of all of the elements a full album, for example “Zodiac;” a killer introductory track that conditions the ear drum for songs to come. And then “Sovereign;” an instrumental ditty that adds depth by the use of ambiance and breakdown between the tracks.
A great mixture of screams and cleans serves well at accenting melodic guitar with rushes of passion. “Oppression” is carried steadily by the clean vocals. Lyrics of not losing hope and sight will never fail to at providing me with an uplifting feeling, and inspired is how I feel as “Oppression” fades out. “Vices” is a skyscraper of a song, built high on the strong foundation laid down by an ever-driving drummer is loads of that catchy guitar mentioned. As the first segment of cleans played I got vibes of The H.A.A.R.P. Machine, while further into the song Icosian cuts to a trippy bass and electronic bit where I am reminded of Last Chance To Reason. “When I Stopped Calling It Home” is finished out with the powerful title track that embodies Icosian’s musical theory and shows a glimpse of their imminent trajectory as musicians.
Icosian is for fans of Erra, Mureau, Northlane and Glass Cloud. In fact Icosian is scheduled to play alongside Glass Cloud in Vancouver next month. “When I Stopped Calling It Home” is available for’ name your own price’ HERE at bandcamp! Go throw a few measly bucks for this gem amongst pebbles (modern way of saying diamond in the rough)!
– Tyler Dermitt
