Icecocoon
The Sindividual(s)
Owenian Records



Some albums are tough to approach and others, well, downright difficult. 'The Sindividual(s)' is a hefty undertaking, written, recorded and released by SA's Owen Leslie Gillett. It's music with an agenda, a message and a whole lot of soul; the gospel according to Icecocoon, if you like. The album mixes noise, strings, samples and low-end, metallic guitar riffs to create an overly eclectic and intense listening experience.

My only persistent complaint is with the thin, nasal vocals, which are on the whole very second-rate. The real standout track on the album is the third track, gODrUSt: fast, heavy and aggressive, a dirty bass riff leads into an all-out assault on...just about everything. Addictive stuff. The artwork and booklet are a real treat, too.

The sprawling, twelve-and-a-half minute Stained Glass Windows starts well with a mid-paced riff and melodic vocals but later makes the shift to a more epic and melodic track, one with far more power and emotion in all aspects of the music. Strings and choral backing help carry the vocals, now layered, creating a fuller and infinitely more enjoyable sound than the lonesome and strained whining elsewhere on the album. When the guitars do return, the song is easily as enjoyable as anything I've heard in a long time.

Pity, really, that it's followed by the painfully dismal Ecstacy Girl, which is forgivable only in that it's an original demo from the band's first sessions (pays to read the booklet sometimes, eh?).

By the end of the first listen, you can't help but feel you've missed something in the experience; there's so much going on here and there's such a weight of importance given to the lyrics and general aesthetic of the album. It's far from perfect but is guaranteed to grow with further listens. Just how far it reaches will depend entirely on the listener's predilection for the weird and pretentiously off-kilter.

Mike Cross