Icarus Witch became known as Paul Di Anno’s backing band on his various tours, so it’s natural to have been influenced by the music of the Beast. They were formed in 2004, long before the madness for NWOTHM (New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal) begun. Actually, this is the band’s fourth full album, and the first for the new singer, Christopher Shaner.
What’s on the album was more or less expected: classic heavy metal sound, a few modern elements, anthem-ic choruses, frenzy soloing, huge riffs… their extra weapon is some songs that will stick on the listener’s mind, like the title-track, and “Last Call For Living”. Plus, they show that they have great skills in writing more complicated pieces of music, like “We Are The New Revolution”. I am sure that had they more song like that, they would have been much more famous or at least identified in the broader heavy music circle worldwide. But, they surely have the potential for something even better than “Rise”, so we are expecting a lot from them. Finally, it wouldn’t hurt if we had the chance to check them out over here.
