Camina hasta el final del siglo
no hay nada aquí que respirar.
Afuera gritan las sombras
que no existen los fantasmas
para que yo pueda
convertirme en uno.
In this post we are going to introduce this newly established band from Spain and review their album which was released by the famous label ‘Avantgarde Music’. The crucial thing about them is their great start because this album is Ikarie’s first work and a gate to a trilogy. The combination of Spanish literature and rich music in the Sludge Doom Metal genre with Post-Atmospheric and Experimental elements make this album more audible and exclusive. In some parts of the album, you can also feel the Doom / Death effects of the 90s. It can be said with confidence that this album is particular but also is influenced by great bands such as Mar de Grises, Katatonia, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and Cult of Luna. Ikarie’s music is deeply rooted in the place where they live and where the band members grew up. In this album, one can feel the reflection of prostration, loneliness, nothingness, and the need to get rid of this atrocious and bleak life. These reflections form band’s dark, frenetic, and lifeless pieces of music, and again these great works represent different mental states, such as cinematic images and feelings which included torment and misery, grief and agony!
Ikarie defines its concept and philosophy as a kind of Cosmic Existentialism which is related to human beings’ Freedom and Responsibility as a logical form and is aware of its insignificant, frightening, and wonderful existence in the world.
The themes of tracks like ‘Barro’, ‘La Criatura’ or even ‘Está en tu cabeza’ are very close to Post-Metal style. In ‘Está en tu cabeza’ it becomes apparent that the preparation of the song takes place in a state of ecstasy and darkness, and when it reaches its climax, leaves the listener with heavy guitars and drums. In many tracks of this album, we can percieve their annoying beauty that can hardly be got rid of emotionally! The ‘En el río’ uses violin and cello as exquisitely as possible, which adds more drama. In ‘Remedio’ which is an instrumental track, when the cello is played, the listener feels particularly tranquil, but this is just the beginning!
The fascinating part of this album can be found in its lyrics. Poems with themes of mental disorders, emotional traumas, internal conflicts, and wounds that never healed before and through time they’ve became deeper. Some of the songs are inspired by Spanish poets like Alejandra Pizarnik and Federico García Lorca, or some of these poems are dedicated to those who lost their mothers as children, or about the historical memory of the society. Or even about the gender issues which exist in their community. Somewhere one expresses his hatred for himself and elsewhere he depicts the bitter memories of his grandmother being killed. In general, any group do not have such combination of music and poetry, and also the narration of these two requires sufficient knowledge of music, literature and even psychological and sociological issues.
This album was able to magnificently fuse the notion of the band and their music, so we have to wait and see how Ikarie will complete this trilogy in their next albums. What signs show, Doom Metal scene undergoes another outstanding band. In the end, we can describe this album in a few words: Cathartic, Hypnotic and Adroit which its charming misery is like a whip on your soul.
