Here we are at the third of four song-posts for this Tuesday. Let’s start with an an age-old question: How much new ground must a band break before they’re deserving of praise? Do they have to break new ground at all, or is it enough that their music is solid, competent, and does justice to the genre in which they work?

I’ve been accused of being easy to please. That perception could be based in part on the fact that we generally don’t publish negative reviews at this site. That’s not to say that we don’t hear music that leaves us feeling meh or even disgusted; we just filter that out and ignore it in the pages of NCS, preferring to focus instead on metal we can honestly recommend. Still, compared to lots of metalheads I know and critics I read, I guess it’s true that I’m a soft touch.

Consistent with that truth, I like lots of music that doesn’t break new ground. But when a band is plowing existing furrows, I do want them to do it well — to dig that fucken groove deep, with sharp edges. Which brings me (at last) to Icon In Me. They’re a band “based” in Moscow, but they’re really a multinational collective of metal veterans (more on that later). They released an album on Goomba Music in July called Head Break Solution. I didn’t catch it when it came out, but I did catch their second official video from the album yesterday, for a song called “Lost For Nothing”.

The song isn’t ground-breaking, but man I do like it. It’s a vintage Soilwork-style cross between metalcore and melodeath that effectively spews vitriolic rage while plowing some very sweet grooves. Continue reading »