Dew Scented – Icarus

Ninth album for the German thrashers Dew-Scented, as always starting with the I letter. This time it’s entitled ”Icarus” and has a difficult task from the very beginning, to stand beside their previous masterpiece ”Invocation”. Dew-Scented were always a strange case, as they never achieved the recognition they should and they started getting the attention of the fans for the wrong reasons, mainly a decade ago with ”Inwards” (yes, it got old) and because everybody thought that Dew-Scented were playing like The Haunted (who had already stopped playing like this from the ”Made Me Do It” album).

Leif Jensen had also another difficult job, to find new members each time and album and adjust them perfectly to the band. The proof that he managed to do it right are the gigs of the band where its true worth is shown much better than on the albums. But here we have to deal with a studio release, which starts immensely fast with the duo of  ”Sworn To Obey” and ”Thrown To The Lions”. Good ol’ Dew-Scented, modern production and heavy speeding riffs alongside some very useful blastbeats for which I always loved the fact that the band uses them where needed, who said that thrash can’t be violent and brutal after all?

The problem was always that the band was a little too ”modern” for the old school fans, who never thought of the Germans as a pure thrash band. One of the main reasons that thrash metal didn’t continue its ongoing rising through the years, was the closed minds of the genre’s fans. Dew-Scented surely don’t need them, as they always put new elements on their music in each album. Of course, the Slayer mood is present, but some mid tempo parts plus some slower hints like on ”Storm Within” with a Bolt Thrower-esque touch, are always welcome and equally obsessive with the rest of the material of the ten tracks.

Leif’s throat sounds once again like caterpillars marching and digging their way under the surface, without caring if there is any sun high above. After all, Icarus was a personality that died because he tried to fly as high as the sun (like an old song says). The rest of his crew plays like being a part of the band for many years, so there are not much differences in the typical marching sound of all instruments. The production is flawless once again and tracks like ”Destined To Collapse” or the closing ”Perpetuated” could easily become fans’ favourites and of course, live classics in the near future.

On its whole, ”Icarus” definitely deserves a place among the rest eight albums of the band. It’s better than most of them, but doesn’t reach the standards of ”Invocation” or the double frenzy of ”Inwards” and ”Impact”. Still the band delivers another very good album which can offer you moments of energy and adrenaline combined into one. Sometimes more, sometimes less, Dew-Scented always find their way to please metalheads. I think that this album is a good chance for many non-thrash fans to start discovering them. Time will tell, until then, heads down, shoulders up and… Headbang motherfuckers! The ones lucky to buy the limited edition, will find some hidden jewels inside…