Adelaide band Ice On Mercury is one of those exciting bands that you must have in your ‘can’t wait to see what they do next’ pile. Their last EP was an absolute gem… the kind of EP that you just have to have in your collection. Now along comes their brand new EP Blind Leading The Lifeless which again shows why Ice On Mercury are one of the most exciting bands around the moment.
The opening track (which shares the same name as the EP) does a very rare thing. It takes that classic Nu-Metal sound and somehow mixes with a brutal in-your-face-sound that sounds like it wants to lean out of your speakers and punch you in the face. The track is brought to life by some absolutely exceptional drumming from drummer Michael Golding while front-man Almir Djemailovic’s vocals have to be heard to be believed.
The band step up their hardcore sound with Little People, a track that sees them change sound and pace whenever they like throughout it without it ever feeling like it is jarring at all. The same goes for the vocals which shift from full on metal growls to clean vocals with complete ease… this is a feat that many other bands out there could stand to learn from. Numbers battles for the title of ‘best track on the album’ as it is a song that you simply fall in love with straight away. This time it is Nath Willason’s guitar work that seems to lead with a schizophrenic sound that brilliantly changes whenever the clean vocals kick in. The clean vocals here sound like something that The Scorpions would of be proud of… they are just that good.
For me though General Justification is the track of the EP. It has more of a rock feel and becomes a sweet love song (with a twist) that wouldn’t be out of place on any mixtape. My first reactions to the track is not only that I want to listen to it over and over, but why the hell isn’t it getting more radio play? The EP then closes with Wash It Away and Pantomime which again sees the band walking that amazing tight-rope of brutality with a mix of melody.
I’ve said before that Ice On Mercury are one of the most promising bands in Australia at the moment and Blind Leading The Lifeless shows that even more so. This is the kind of album that just makes you hope that the band decide to do a national tour sometime soon as you just know that it would sound brilliant live. There is no mistake Blind Leading The Lifeless is an early contender for album of the year.
5 Stars
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GGAPq1-fCs]
