There’s nothing better than big, dumb, riffy metal, and to my great pleasure, that’s what Imprerial Crystalline Entombment is all about. Recalling the most aggressive and relentless eras of both Immortal and Emperor, mixed with the bleak iciness of Aurora Borealis and feral speed of Vimur, Ancient Glacial Resurgence flays flesh as it flings shard after shard of accursed ice at you with mad fervor. Featuring big talent from the likes of Aurora Borealis, Monstrosity, Hate Eternal and others, the cryptically named Bleak, Bliss’Erred, IceSickKill, and Mammoth1 crafted a veritable blizzard of razor sharp riffs, hellish blasts, and harmonized tremolo leads. If you manage to somehow survive the onslaught, you’ll be spending the majority of your remaining years tending to frostbitten limbs, a million icepick wounds, and a mighty case of brain freeze.
There’s a lot to love in these ten tomes, all cold enough to leave careless passersby deeply freezer-burned, but I.C.E. is at its best when focused on breakneck intensity. Prime cuts “Into a Frigid Bleak Infinity,” “Of Blizzards and Banshees,” “Petrified Cadaverous Wastelands,” and the impeccably named “Savage Blizzard Stabbings” represent the cream of that crop. Memorable riffs swirl and slice every which way, assaulting the listener with a whipping cyclone of black metal guaranteed to blow your hair back. The guitar work in particular is simply outstanding across the board, with excellent and often harmonized tremolos littering other strong selections such as “Ravaskeith’s Crystalline Return,” “Cataclysmic Glaciation” and “Opening the Arctic Imperial Gates.” In fact, Ancient Glacial Resurgence is so jam packed with awesome instrumentation and addicting hooks that I find it increasingly difficult to pick favorites. Each revisit reveals a new little nugget of frozen goodness that I missed last time. Furthermore, the record clocks in at an ideal forty-four minutes, with all ten tracks falling under five minutes, making all of my aforementioned revisits effortless.
Unfortunately, Ancient Glacial Resurgence falls short of greatness, let down by its production and lackluster vocals. Normally, I wouldn’t be so harsh about the vocal performance, as it is serviceable for the style. In this case, however, I learned early on that IceSickKill lent his monstrous pipes to the legendary Monstrosity from 2006 until 2021. Knowing this, I pine for his infamous deathly roar to make even just one appearance on Ancient Glacial Resurgence, if for no other reason than to break up the unrelenting and, at times, monotonous rasp populating this record. As far as production goes, guitar tones fit the style very well, and the mix is well arranged for the most part. On the other hand, the drums sound awful. Plastic bass drum triggers, glassy cymbals, and rubbery toms pound into my head without relief, and only the snare manages to sound halfway decent—a boon to be sure, considering the density of blasts on offer. Finally, the bass is totally buried under this avalanche of riffs, leaving the album with unsubstantial low-end heft.
Despite my criticisms, Ancient Glacial Resurgence remains a pleasant surprise and a delightful inclusion to my rotation. There are no bad songs, and all ten offer something cool and engaging to latch onto. It won’t change the way we hear black metal, nor will it likely change the minds of black metal naysayers, but it will please fans of any era of the style. Additionally, it’s rare to see a black metal band not take themselves too seriously, so my recommendation is this: give I.C.E. a lick, and let yourselves have a little fun this Friday with Ancient Glacial Resurgence!
Rating: Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Debemur Morti Productions
Websites: facebook.com/ImperialCrystallineEntombment | imperialcrystallineentombment.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: September 1st, 2023
