Icon Of Sin
Open Water

Nobody would bet on it. It seems absurd that there is still something to say in a genre so inflated, flat, anonymous, and often justifiably despised. We find ourselves in territories where the formula for any record, with very few exceptions, seems always to be the same, and those who emerge from the scene are not usually the ones with something to say, but those who say it better than anyone else (not quite true, too often it’s a matter of looks and various whims). The genre could be called Breakdown-Based-Metalcore, one that spread like wildfire and became one of the most popular genres among young people worldwide in the second half of the 2000s, yet bands that are truly valid can be counted on one hand. A genre now at the end of its rope but still reserving some powerful last strikes.

Like this one.

These Icon Of Sin are a small emerging reality from Rome, and "Open Water" is their second self-produced EP and it's one of these last strikes. But what are the ingredients to craft a valid product in this genre? Well, first of all, you need to know how to play, then ensure a very clean and powerful production, don't pay too much allegiance to the dogmas of the genre, that means breakdowns but not too many, occasional solos, perhaps even some element that goes beyond the classic instrumentation, minimal traces of electronics, and orchestral passages that do not sound pompous or worse tacky, or at least not too much.

Luckily, we have all these elements here. Brief hints of electronics take us into the initial and powerful "Pick Up Your Guns," various aspects can immediately catch the ear, a clean voice that does not sound off-key for once, a production with crystal clear sounds, and the main singing? Probably the person in charge of the vocals struggled quite a bit to render it in a way that did not sound like déjà vu, and indeed the attempt achieved the desired effect. We then move on to the following "Open Water" and "A Blinding Sun," not exactly thrilling but certainly above the average of the genre and more personal than that. "Waves," on the other hand, is perhaps the peak of the mini-album, with a very appreciable solo and drum work, the closure is then entrusted to "Shipwreck," where we find more insistent orchestral sounds than in the rest of the work for an almost "epic" progression.

In short, probably this EP is worth as much as the entire discographies of some renowned bands in the genre. All that remains is to hope to see an album published as soon as possible and the affirmation at a great level for these guys, they deserve it.