review by: Roberto Martinelli

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” That’s an old adage that is reinforced by writing for Maelstrom. It certainly applies to I.C.E. and their three song demo MCD.

So the album may look totally gay, like the reincarnation of Crimson Glory in what could be even stupider costumes and with far worse color schemes - but it in fact rules. Just like Crimson Glory. But unlike that rather obscure 80s power metal group, the music doesn’t fit at all with the imagery. (And I won’t even tell you what I.C.E. stands for. Yeah, it’s lame.)

What you do get is without doubt the best imaginable, speed crazed black metal. The kind that exemplifies the word “impossible.” The kind that bands like Keep of Kalessin plays, but even faster and more technical. The kind that mutually benefits from being at light speed and by having juicy riffs played by clear instruments that haven’t been fiddled with by stupid effects or triggers. The kind you play over and over and over.

Even though the styles are different, I can’t help but think of Aurora Borealis and its latest album (review here). It’s an unlikely connection: both albums have similarly terrible visual presentation, and both feature musicians who can play the living daylights out of their instruments. Like, they can actually play to a higher degree of precision and speed than you can even *imagine* playing.

Marduk fans will SO love this. And then they’ll put on their Marduk CDs and find that they’ve become strangely inadequate. Why, oh, why does this album have to be just 11 and a half minutes long? Oh, well, I guess it’s time to play it again for the eighth time. (9/10)