Icon In Me-Head Break Solution

Goomba Music
2011

Russia's Icon In Me are led by Vocalist Tony JJ (Tony Jelencovich). Tony JJ has already made a name for himself thanks to his involvement in bands like C-187, B-Thong, Transport League, Iron Shit Snakes, Mnemic, Commander, Angel Blake and M.A.N. Now when you have a band rounded out by D. Frans - Guitars (Hostile Breed), Artyom Sherbakov - Guitars (Reign the Absolute, Bezumnie Usiliya) , Konstantin - Bass (Hostile Breed) and Morten Løwe Sørensen - Drums (Indrama, Submission, Slugs, Strangler, Koldborn, Panzerchrist, Scavenger, The Cleansing, Disavowed, Amaranthe, Mercenary , The Arcane Order , Indrama) you'd expect something good out of Head Break Solution. On paper this sounds like something quite good and downright sinister right? I remember thinking along the same lines when 2009's Human Museum was released. And yet their debut album left a bad taste in my mouth. That term modern metal is thrown around a lot these days to describe bands. Problem is what exactly is modern metal? It's a rather vague term. It can mean just about anything really and when faced with this follow up the term modern metal didn't thrill me. Human Museum sounded flat. That said though Head Break Solution offers hope that maybe Icon In Me can learn to carve out something meaningful. There are still all the hallmarks of Human Museum. Icon In Me features metalcore, thrash, nu metal, groove metal, post-hardcore and melodic death on their new release just like on their full-length debut. Note though that on Head Break Solution it sounds fuller and more upfront for the most part. There are still paint by numbers cuts throughout Head Break Solution that weigh it down. Yet the band is making an effort to strike out on their own. With guest appearances from Glen Drover (Megadeth, King Diamond), Anders Bjorler (The Haunted, At The Gates), Rob Guz (M.A.N., Olof Morck, Nightrage, Amaranthe), Magnus Soderman (In Rage, Slapdash), Andy Solvestrom (Within, Amaranthe, Evildoer and Cypher System) and Oleg Izotov (Trinity, ANJ) the band are looking to add another layer to their sound. Head Break Solution was produced by Jacob Hansen (Mnemic, Destruction,Mercenary, Maroon Raunchy), recorded at CBS Studio (Denmark), A-Lab (Moscow) and Grand Recordings (Sweden) and was mixed by Ben Schigel (Chimaira, Drowning Pool, Walls Of Jericho) at Spider Studios in Los Angeles, CA so Icon In Me has put a lot of weight behind this album. Mastering was done by Major Appelbaum (Halford, Fight, Yngwie Malmsteen, Cynic, Therion) so the album does have a very modern feel to it (no pun intended with the band tagged as modern metal). So, in all yes Head Break Solution is a step above Human Museum. Icon In Me has made all the right moves to distance themselves from the pack. Are they there yet? Not quite. Head Break Solution is a good sign though of things to come.