Formed in 2007 in Lausanne, Switzerland. When Icarus Falls materializes the exploration of dark musical universes, oscillating between hazy atmospheres and heavy riffs. When Icarus Falls‘ musicians are well known for their intense stage performances. The band released their debut EP ‘Over The Frozen Seas’ in 2000, and followed that up with the incredible concept album ‘Aegean’. That release is based on the work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a famous psychiatrist who described the five stages of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance; five steps defining the atmosphere of the five main songs of the album. The band then went on to release another EP ‘Circles’ in 2014. The band has now release yet another EP via Czar Of Bullets titled ‘Resilience’. It was recorded in July 2016 by Chris Noth at the Bikini Test in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg in Stockholm, Sweden. It released April 21, 2017.
“One Last Stand” ignites the way into the album. Some delicate guitar picking tip toes you through the track until the vocals kick in at around the 3 minute mark. The long instrumental intro of this 10 minute track is well worth the wait. Diego Mediano’s vocals take on more of a spoken word type approach. The track as a whole is much more instrumentation than vocals. And because of that it makes the vocals all the more appealing, you don’t get as much of it so when you do it’s far more appreciated. The soothing rhythm has a progressive vibe from start to finish. Everything about the track is played with precision and very clean. “Into The Storm” again consists of mostly instrumental sounds. It’s at the very end of the track that the vocals are introduced. This time we get a harsh screaming tone, which puts the band more in the post hardcore realm. The lack of vocals really leaves you wanting more, but when they are present it really steps the song up to another level. The band would almost fall into the category of an instrumental band. “A Blue Light” really switches things up. You get vocals almost right off the bat. This song is also one of the heavier songs on the album. Musically it has a hypnotizing element. The pace is somewhat slow and slows much more as the track winds down. In contrast to the harsh vocals that kicked off the track the vocals that conclude the song have a mixture of both clean and harsh vocals. “A Blue Light” is the longest track on the record and really showcases everything the band can do. When Icarus Falls doesn’t show off in any flashy way. They play in a precise and distinguished manner that deserves immediate respect. Resilience” is for anyone that loves instrumental music, though there is some vocals on the album the large majority of the release showcases the band’s music more so than the vocals. When the vocals kick in they are amazing, I just wish there was more of them. When Icarus Falls has amazing technical playing abilities and though they often fall into the post hardcore genre they have a tremendous amount of progressive influence within their music. They have various strong points in their style that most anyone can find something they enjoy.
When Icarus Falls is currently on a European Tour. If you get the chance get out there and see them live.
