Ice War-Battle Zone

Self-Release/Independent
2015

"Battle Zone" is the first release from Ottawa, Ontario's Ice War. Formerly know as Iron Dogs (the Canadian band that gave us "Free and Wild") and featuring the skills of Jo Capitalicide (Barrow Wight, Blue Cross, Trioxin 245, Zex, Вредители, ex-Cauchemar (live), ex-Bastardator, ex-Germ Attak, ex-Mental Rescue),  Ice War more or less picks up where the former left off when it comes to this initial 3-track offering. For the uninformed that means N.W.O.B.H.M.-inspired heavy/speed metal that has one foot in the garage and other one in the arena. It's raw & real heavy/speed metal that also draws upon the classic sights and sounds of yesteryear's Canadian hard rock and traditional heavy metal scene and then finishes things off with the punk rock-like speak-sing voice of Jo Capitalicide. There's all that delicious craziness and so much more on the three-track "Battle Zone". Along with the slick title track and equally-awesome "This Was Our Home" you get a solid Crystal Pride cover in the form of "Sharon". That's three great metal numbers from one great metal band. And did I mention that it's only one measly U.S. dollar! I didn't? Well, now you know. And knowing is half the battle. Of course the other half of the battle is downloading this gem, but I'll trust all of you to do the right thing when it comes to that task. I can trust you right?

Iron Dogs-Free and Wild

Iron Bonehead
2013

Formed in 2011, and with the 8-track "Free and Wild" serving as the follow-up to the band's well-received (and highly recommend folks!) 2012 album, "Cold Bitch", the mythical Canadian outfit known as Iron Dogs returns to the scene of the crime in order to offer up more fun loving (and highly-inspired!) throw-back heavy metal/N.W.O.B.H.M. that is nothing but a damn wild and crazy good time!  That's a mouthful for sure, but seeing as "Free and Wild" is a mountain of a metal album such high praise and admiration is warranted! Iron Dogs, which fashions it's music around the notion that nothing good happened to the heavy metal scene after the year 1983 (which seems like a fairly logical conclusion to me), might sound as if it it features a whole army of musicians but in actuality there's just vocalist/guitarist/bassist Jo Capitalicide and drummer Dan Lee. You'll want to keep that in mind friends as "Free and Wild" blows your metal-loving mind! With a mile-long list of influences* this Canadian two-piece comes across as the world's greatest, if totally unsung and unjustly underrated, garage heavy metal band with "Free and Wild", as alluded to above, being one of the most fun METAL albums that I've had the pleasure of hearing in a long, long time! Furthering the idea that less is often times more, Iron Dogs are self-proclaimed "Total Stratocaster Metal played loud, fast, and raw!" and while they might not ever be looked upon as the true "Saviors of Heavy Metal" (a vastly overrated concept) they sure as hell rock out as if the genre is on life-support and needs a kick in the ass of adrenaline! True to that description ("Total Stratocaster Metal played loud, fast, and raw!") these two Canadian heavy metal maniacs, who tap into the spirits of everyone from early Angel Witch to later day English Dogs, kick up a serious amount of dirt and debris with "Free and Wild"! Of course what's funny is that even with all of the early 80's heavy metal love going on within these 8 tracks and the absolute N.W.O.B.H.M. worship taking place here (and I'm talking about from one end to the other and from album start to album finish) these Canadian ball-breakers also had me envisioning the likes of S.N.F.U. and the Dayglo Abortions! Maybe it's the near speak-sing vocals of Jo Capitalicide or maybe it's the sloppy (in a good way) lead guitar solos, but I could see this one appealing to both punks and bangers alike! None of the album's 8-tracks overstays it's welcome with "Island of the Dead" (ringing in at 4 minutes and 47 seconds) serving up the longest run-time. As "Free and Wild" is not even 30 minutes long it does the old in and out before you've truly come to grasp with what's happened. These two solid-gold musicians whip their songs out like each and every single one of them is on fire and there's never a moment where these guys slow down to take a breath! With an obvious appreciation for album art featuring near-naked women, albeit near-naked warrior women (with their 2011 debut recording, "Ripping Torment" being the exception), the guys in Iron Dogs have achieved a real winner that works from it's album cover to the actual music within. The only down side really is that this one isn't scheduled to be released until the start of December!



*This list will give you a better idea of what we're talking about with "Free and Wild"!
When it comes to Iron Dogs the group lists it's influences as the blood, gotham city, berserks,angel witch, raven, grim reaper, attacker,acid, leige lord, manilla road, omen,brats, the beast, midieval, oz, tygers of pan tang,accept, stormwitch, ef band, tank, tokyo blade, warfare, helloween, bulldozer,cirith ungol, samson, soldier, english dogs, vice human, savage grace, riot, satan, merciful fate, evil, randy, sad iron, sabre, holocaust, mercy, savage, saxon, iron maiden 80-81, def leppard 79, grave digger, faithfull breath, high power, vulcain, heavy load, anvil, picture, crossfire, panzer, witch cross, overdrive,venom, viva, bloodgood, metal church, cerebus, leatherwolf, aragorn, hell, girlschool, raw deal, preying mantis, oral sex,broken bones, diamond head, blitzkrieg, slayer 83, crucifixion,exciter, gbh, voivod, crucifixion, brainfever,blind guardian 88', fingernails, metallica 83', viper, sortilege, zero nine, and ironcross!

CD version to be released by Dying Victims Productions

Tape version, limited to a mere 100 copies, to be released by Fuck the Mainstream - We Are the Mainstream Records,