Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating *

The Scandinavian countries have a proud history of producing some really great music that catches the ear in more ways to the British ear than say music from Southern Europe. From Abba, A-Ha, Lena Marlin, In The Woods, Jacob Bro, Lars Ulrich of Metallica fame and Candlemass have all made an impression somewhere along the lines in the lives of music lovers from the U.K.  They are hard acts to live up to and newer bands trying to make any head way in their own country has a huge mountain to climb.

Denmark’s Iceage are one such band with that near impossible task stretching out before them. What makes it harder for the band is the way in which they present their music. Punk it may be, however it is not punk in the way fans of the genre would remember it nor does it align itself with the post or neo punk sound that has come around in the last few years. Their latest album You’re Nothing unfortunately doesn’t offer the listener anything concrete to hang their dreams or hopes around, musically or personally. The sound the foursome create for the album is muddy and overly distorted at best and whilst a couple of songs slip through the uninspiring net they have cloaked themselves in, they are too few in number to make owning the album worthwhile.

The vocals provided for the band by Elias Bender Rønnenfelt do little to grab the attention of the listener except for make them long for the moment when the album has finished, if they get that far, and they can turn their attentions to bands that have polished their sound and made it a real treat to listen to. Ice age could do a lot worse than listen to the likes of The Rabble, China’s Brian Failure or The Unseen to show where they could be.

It is an absolute shame in which to be re-introduced to the band from Denmark after the interesting debut album New Brigade.

Ian D. Hall