Review : ICHABOD – “2012″

Ichabod – 2012
Released November 24, 2009 on Rootsucker Records

Jeez, now we’ve got metal bands hopping on the 2012 bandwagon? Didn’t we cover this territory a decade ago with Testament on “Three Days of Darkness”? At least then it was confined to a single song. These Beantown boys have some great ideas, but it feels like they’re firing from the hip.

The band sure is fond of sound effects and samples, from the frogs that conclude “Sleeping Giant” and the elephants that begin “Giving Up The Ghost” to the quotes from the film Session 9 at the start of “Gentlemen of The Choir”. This track is arguably the best here, where they reach the apex of their psychedelic stoner doom (they even have fluting around six minutes in!). The strength behind their version of Pink Floyd’s “Nile Song” is potent, but undercut by the fact that it’s a cover, and has already been done better by Voivod. You gotta believe they love it though, because it’s the lengthiest song here, with most of the elongation due to extended improvisational jamming.

The 18-second interlude of thunderclaps and keyboard noodling is utterly pointless, and should have been combined with “New Years Prayer”, which also feels kinda aimless and tacked-on. It’s all buildup to the two-part title track, whose outro is longer than the song itself…what’s that all about? Anyway, it’s filled with sound effects, Alex Jones rants, quotes from Revelations, “Mayan chants”, and is overlong. The rumbling gallop that begins “2012” is much more promising, but it’s a shame that it meanders into a maelstrom of jumbled noise kept afloat with driftwood riffs that barely hold your attention.

FCC OK
Try 2, 3, 4

01. Sleeping Giants
02. Giving Up The Ghost
03. Gentlemen Of The Choir
04. Nile Song (Pink Floyd cover)
05. untitled
06. New Years Prayer
07. 2012
08. 2012 Outro

Rating: