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www.ichabodrocks.com
REACHING EMPYREAN
LET THE BAD TIMES ROLL
LIVING THROUGH THE END
REACHING EMPYREAN (2004 Rootsucker Records)
Stonerrock.com
www.stonerrock.com
On Reaching Empyrean, the Lowell, MA group Ichabod let loose with six songs of Alice in Chains-style dirges that alternate between metal and hard rock, all with traces of psychedelic doom and occasional hints of a more hardcore sound.
It’s an eclectic, over-the-map affair, but Ichabod make it work. “Succubus” is a fuzzed out rock number reminiscent of Greatdayforup – the perfect lead track. The title track has a slow rumble to it, building from the sparse beginning to the Dirt-like section and peaking with the outro, which could’ve been lifted from any of the great Sabbath albums. “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” my personal favorite, again follows the hard rock beat, but vocalist Ken MacKay trades his clean vocals for a harsh shout on the verses. Like “Reaching Empyrean,” it’s pretty epic, clocking in at over seven minutes and jammed with a multitude of parts.
Actually, with the exception of “Succubus” and their cover of Negative Approach’s “Evacuate,” most of Ichabod’s songs run that length. So if you’re expecting something quick and dirty, you’re going to be disappointed with Ichabod. But if you’re looking for some morose death rock, the kind that’s based in grim misery and drawn out to underscore that feeling, then you should check out Reaching Empyrean.
-John Pegoraro / Arzgarth
Stonerrock.com
www.stonerrock.com
"Ichabod has a serious aggressive sound that is crust core, metal and deep seeded classic rock influenced; almost garage at times. Their sound reminds me of everything from Man is the Bastard to Melvins to Buzzoven. Just plain blistering high energy and intense throughout! It's got some spacalicous moments like Hawkwind saturated in spacey effects and at times hints towards MC5."
-Rob Wrong
Aversion Online
www.aversionline.com
This is a definite improvement over their last disc. Expect six at times lengthy tracks of diverse "stoner rock" that tends to explore a much wider range of influences than most such bands. The vocals are somewhat akin to a more restrained Goatsnake and sway towards a strained rasp at times, almost a shout, but I really like the singing and the dude is great for this style, so they ought to hold onto him for sure. Musically there's a foundation of sludgy grooves happening, but there are some more metallic influences at times as well, with songs like the title track even exploring some unusual clean passages that layer guitar parts together and wind around quite a bit.
"Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" opens fast and furious with an all out rock ‘n' roll break that quickly slows down and ends up leading into what becomes a seven-minute piece complete with a strange ambient bass break with oddly harmonized vocals and sparse clean guitars.
The 10-minute epic "Manna" opens with clean and acoustic guitars alongside distant vocals delivered in a lower, softer style with female accompaniment that makes for a much darker and more unexpected twist to the band's delivery. Distortion finally kicks in with some noisy lead work around seven minutes in, making for a really powerful surge that caps off this rather impressive foray into something different and unusual for the genre.
Closer "Violet Sky" opens with a similarly laidback approach complete with keyboards and congas, eventually building up into a darker track that has a heavier sort of undercurrent going on than any of the preceding material. I definitely find the back and forth shifting from distortion to acoustic guitars more effective in this outing than in some of the earlier tracks such as "Reaching Empyrean".
There are definitely times when some of this material loses its focus and wanders on a little long, but regardless everything marks a pretty surprising step forward for these guys. And there's also "Evacuate": A fucking raging cover of the mighty Negative Approach chock full of chunky chord progressions and a sweet vocal performance that perfectly balances throaty texture with hints of singing.
Awesome, awesome work. I'm impressed. The recording's much better this time as well. The mix is pretty even, the tones are warm, etc. There's room for improvement, I'd like to hear the bass given a little more breathing room and I think a bit more volume and clarity would help pull some force forth from these songs, but I think they've got a pretty nice sound happening here for an independent release. I still have gripes with portions of the layout, but the cover art (which is shown in full on the four-panel foldout) looks pretty interesting. The band photos and psychedelic purple textures look pretty stupid though, thus ruining the consistent aesthetic followed elsewhere.
Lyrically there's a decent amount of abstract material befitting of this particular niche of the genre: "Overcoming blood and fire, the names will fade and I will wade through the wake of time, with nothing changed, I will move on through time..." There are still some kinks to work out with both the recording quality and the songwriting, but these guys are progressing nicely. I could definitely see fans of this genre digging this record, and if this growth continues I bet their next one will fully win me over as well. That Negative Approach cover is a fucking scorcher, seriously. I'm all fucking over that! There's a lot of cool stuff going on here, and the band is very close to really hitting home. (6/10)
Running time - 37:22, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: Evacuate, Manna, Violet Sky]
Rough Edge
www.roughedge.com
With "Reaching Empyrean," Ichabod once again proves they are impossible to categorize. Although the stoner genre raises its sludgy head here perhaps even more so than on "Let the Bad Times Roll," Ichabod keeps the listener guessing as each track stands individually, sonically different than its predecessor or follower ... and yet obviously part of the whole.
"Reaching Empyrean" begins with two sludgy monsters, "Succubus" and the title track. "Succubus" is somewhat faster paced than "Reaching Empyrean," and sounds a little like Fu Manchu. "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" pops up next and explodes into speedy territory before slowing down to a crushing chorus. "Evacuate" could probably destroy brick walls with its heavy wave of sound, while "Manna" is a quiet stroll until its blistering finale. The final track, "Violet Sky," begins with tiny bells before throbbing into a haunting sound all its own.
As with previous Ichabod releases, fans of the stoner genre will want to check out "Reaching Empyrean," especially if they're looking for something just a little different.
-Scott Bolton
Metal Maniacs Magazine
www.metalmaniacs.com
March 2006 - Aural Assaults
Following this cauldron of post=hardcore lunacy develop over the last two demos in Firing Squad has been a blast. And now the Massachusetts lynch mob have really proven themselves an invigorating and much-needed kick in the stoner scene’s collective ass with Reaching Empyrean. Boasting supernatural tube power – unifying a buttkicking low-end punch with a warm natural sound – the band here emerges as creative musicians and masters of their tone. Opening fuzzbuster “Succubus” bursts with StonerRock.com praise, rolling Solace’s smoky room psyche-doom and an ounce of Atomic Bitchwax swag into a monster spliff. The title track follows with a subtler technique of building tension through laid-back Middle Eastern-=influenced guitars into a tripped=out black hole that eventually lets loose into a stomping finale around the seven-minute mark.
The band’s hardcore influence is apparent in the whirlwind opening of “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” They dip in and out of Acid Bathesque “butcher in the woods” buildups then melt into a Stoner Witch-era Melvins pill break, before diving headfirst into the Ichabod-interpreted “Evacuate” from Negative Approach. “Manna,” the essential calm before the storm, glides in with acoustic instruments and tranquil female vocals, and although it sports a more “treehugging” vibe than the rest of the disc, it works out well.
Talented, ambidextrous, tone=heavy and innovative as fuck, Ichabod put their numerous peers to shame. Top it all off with the incredible Scott Cranmer artwork and psychedelic layout and you can’t go wrong with this one. Fans of JJ Paradise Player’s Club, Cable , Rue, We’re All Gonna Die or Karma To Burn, I’m looking at you.
- Dave Brenner
 Metal Maniacs Online
www.metalmaniacs.com
Ichabod’s second sojourn into the sun is titled Reaching Empyrean, and the six tracks adorning this disc are swirling pieces of savory mid-tempo stoner rock. There’s a whole lot of dirge-y, droning melodies here to keep the mood dark and brooding, and the sludge factor from the rhythm section is right on point. Sounding like The Melvins, Trouble, and some early NWOBHM can never be a bad thing, and Ichabod succeeds (on tracks like “Succubus” and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”) by invoking all of those band’s spirits without directly ripping off any of them. Keeping it slower and lower than many of their contemporaries, Ichabod’s caustic musical offering welcomes riff-worshippers and purveyors of the pummeling sounds of stoner rock everywhere.
-Mike SOS
The Noise
www.thenoise-boston.com
Homegrown stoner rock of the highest (no pun intended) degree, and this is a genre that is not all that well represented in these parts. They cover the entire range, from heavy to melodic to hypnotic, and they do it with a tightness that indicates they may not actually be stoned, but don’t bet on it. This disc also sports super-clean production, so you can hear everyone clearly, and considering the playing ability on display here, that is very much appreciated. You get some acoustic, trippy moments, and then you get the pummeling you were probably looking for in the first place.
Yeah, it’s a short disc, but the song “Manna” makes it worth having all by itself. Starts off slow ands psychedelic, like Jefferson Airplane on ’ludes (and that’s not a bad thing) and builds to a bombastic finale with raging lead guitar work. Set the wayback machine to the days when acid fueled the best music, and there you are. The female backing vox are icing on the cake. See them live if you get the chance–they throw it down on stage. Most highly recommended (pun possibly intended)
- Tim Emswiler
Live 4 Metal
www.live4metal.om
Review by Josh Thorne
I’ve been a fan of Ichabod for quite a while now. Hailing from the metalcore-infested terrain of Massachusetts, Ichabod is not only a musical anomaly because of their residence, but also due in part to the fact that nearly everyone who listens to their music is unable to classify it. Although commonly linked to the Stoner Rock community because of their love for the good old grass of relaxation and because of the fuzzed out tone of the guitars, Ichabod’s sound digs much deeper into the listener’s subconscious with their relaxed delivery and rhythms that are truly not of this planet. Album opener, “Succubus”, is a great indicator of what one can expect from the rest of the listening experience. Differing in various degrees from its predecessor, “Let The Bad Times Role”, the sound of “Empyrean” does not contain the punk-laden urgency of previous Ichabod material. Instead, “Empyrean” finds the quartet further embracing the spacey atmospherics of their past and focusing on creating epic, yet catchy songs that ultimately showcase the band as incredibly skilled musicians, but also showcase their improvements in the field of songwriting. I always thought the band’s songs were nothing short of brilliant before, but this release takes that feeling to a completely different level. The title track opens with an interesting clean guitar melody, immediately followed by the melancholic, yet powerful vocals of Ken MacKay. I’ve always liked Ken’s vocal style, just because of how different it is for this kind of music. He has a very relaxed (I hate to keep using that word, but listen to the record, and it will make sense) vocal approach that reminds me a bit of Maynard James Keenan or Layne Staley, with the occasional scream thrown in to liven things up a bit. The next track, “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” is much faster, and really, this is when Ichabod shines. The Motorhead pace of the song sees Ichabod really going back to some of the heavier sounds contained on “Let The Bad Times Roll” but this time, with a much clearer sense of musical direction. Even the band’s Negative Approach cover in the form of “Evacuate” is something completely off the wall and only goes to show the true diversity of Ichabod’s sound. Here they successfully do an amazing cover of an old school hardcore song while still contributing their own unique flavor to the mix. “Manna” is, without a doubt, the most calm and subdued track on the record. The eerie feeling of the song is slightly reminiscent of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan”, with the congas and otherworldly guitar playing and samples, while also utilizing female vocals to add a certain veil of mystery to the track. Throughout this record, it’s obvious what the future holds for Ichabod. While this band is still a part of the underground, I can honestly say that it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Ichabod placed on the same pedestal as Black Sabbath in the decades to come. Their sound is unlike anything else on the market these days and it’s a truly unique and mesmerizing listening experience for anyone who enjoys quality music. They may have “Reached Empyrean” but they’ve also reached the level that they’ve been striving for since their inception. Get this album!
Lollipop Magazine
www.lollipop.com
From Boston, recorded by a guy who did Solace and We're All Gonna Die at the studio owned by a couple guys from Roadsaw, mixed and mastered by Today in the Day's Steve Austin. Yup: Ugly, heavy, noisy, tormented and screamy, with riffs as big and slow as glaciers. Get 'em on the mp3 CD and freak people out.
SKRATCH Magazine
www.skratchmagazine.com
Ichabod's second sojourn into the sun is titled REACHING EMPYREAN, and the six tracks adorning this disc are swirling pieces of savory mid-tempo stoner rock. There's a whole lot of dirge-y, droning melodies here to keep the mood dark and brooding; and the sludge factor from the rhythm section is right on point. Sounding like The Melvins, Trouble, and some early NWOBHM can never be a bad thing, and Ichabod succeeds on tracks like "Succubus" and "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" by invoking all of those bands' spirits without directly ripping off any of them. Keeping it slower and lower than many of their contemporaries, Ichabod's caustic musical offering is welcoming to riff-worshippers and purveyors of the pummeling sounds of stoner rock everywhere.
Mike SOS
AURAL INNOVATIONS
www.aural-innovations.com
From Aural Innovations #31 (June 2005)
Ichabod come from the area around Lowell, MA and this is their third release and probably their best. The four piece band play some unconventional heavy rock. "Succubus" opens the CD as a heavy rocker. The title track is next and a cool mideastern style theme begins the track including some sampled sitar like sounds, before the slow heavy riff takes over and then the theme returns. A really cool track. "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" changes things totally with a very aggressive vocal and pounding drums and thrashing guitars before they slow it down. "Evacute" brings back a more doomy vibe. "Manna" is the nearly 10 minute long show piece of the CD with lots of interesting things happening and a very spacey ambient vibe to start the track. Sometimes you would find it hard to believe that it is the same singer on all these tracks. The track really starts to build at around 5˝ minutes before the heavy guitar kicks in at 6 minutes to propel the track forward. This track shows the more adventurous psychedelic side of the band. The CD ends with "Violet Sky" (7˝ minutes long) which also starts slowly with an almost bluesy feel with some cool keyboards and guitar interplay while the vocals float in the background. Great track! It leaves you wanting to hear more.. The one thing I miss on the CD is there are hardly any guitar solos! My usual complaint. Oh yeah, the artwork by Scott Cranmer is very cool!
Reviewed by Scott Heller
I happened to be at the studio when local drugrock man-monsters Ichabod were recording this opulent opus, and lemme tell you, it was some fuckin’ scene. Giant pythons slithered across the floor in silent syncopation to the hammering stonah-rollah, tattooed Gypsy women writhed in hypnotic sex-trances, and a thick purple smoke draped itself like a lazy curse over everything. They must have sprung for the deluxe recording package.
Well, I am here to say that their decadent grape-eating nonsense was well worth it, because the end result is half a dozen epic tracks of diamond hard rock slathered in syrupy space-doom flourishes and blacklight rainbows and stampeding ostrich armies. At it’s core, “Reaching Empyrean” is an angry fistful of Alice in Chains-esque suicide grunge and stomping metalcore, but Ichabod sutures all manner of weirdness and wild invention into every song – dig the drowsy vocal interlude on Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, the Arab-esque intro to the title track, the dreamy, drizzly planet caravan that floats through closer “Violet Sky”. It’s deep stuff, starman, and at least 1,000 years wide, too. It only sounds like you’d expect it to the first time; after that, “Reaching Empyrean” changes shape at will. Enjoy the ride.
Cult of Death
This falls into the genre lines of doom or “stoner rock.” It’s quite good, shifting in times and tempos from slow to mid-paced. It reminds of me of the excellent Cleveland doom band Abdullah. Mellow points, heavy points, points in between, and song lengths of 5-10 minutes make this a hell of a listen. It’s never boring, and will find favor with the doom/stoner crowd. Pure rock.
Daredevil.de
I remember getting Ichabod's last disc, "Let the Bad Times Roll" the previous summer and it was just what the doctor ordered at the time. Its mixture of heavy, sludgy aggression combined with elements of classic rock, punk, hardcore, metal and psychedelia had a very fresh sound to it and almost exactly a year later I've managed to get my hands on a copy of their latest disc "Reaching Empyrean" and I've got to say it's a pretty damn impressive listening experience. Ichabod are really starting to hone their song-writing abilities on this album and come off as a brilliant hybrid of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd with some of the modern sludge aggression of Eyehategod, the epic song-writing of Neurosis and a mesmerizing vocal performance akin to Dax Riggs of Acid Bath. It's an exciting combination of old and new sounds that is constantly shifting moods. Album opener "Succubus" kicks things off in full-on Sabbath mode with blues tinged rock and roll riffs, pounding drums and excellent vocals from Ken Mackay. Ken's got one hell of a voice and he is always changing from one style to another, whether it be an aggressive rasp/scream to emotive clean singing, the dude is all over the place and his voice fits the music perfectly. The rest of the disc really shows off just how much these guys have advanced their sound and are really exploring their more psychedelic side. The title track opens slowly with Middle Eastern sounding guitar work and slowly builds until midway through they bring in some very sludgy sounding southern riffs and pissed off screaming vocals as the song winds down to it's fuzz-drenched finale. I think the absolute standout tracks on the disc though are the one-two punch of "Manna" and "Violet Sky" the most epic and ambitious tracks on the album. "Manna" is a real monolith of a song that's 9+ minutes long and is nothing but mellow, psychedelic bliss with pulsating bass-lines, drowsy vocals and even some awesome female singing as the song progresses. "Violet Sky" follows in a similar vein as "Manna" but is more intense in its delivery with some heavy doom riffs and psychotic vocals that explode at unexpected moments in an otherwise very laid back and relaxing song. This is a damn fine disc from start to finish and just further cements Ichabod as one of my favorite bands. I really hope more people keep noticing these guys because I still think they are hugely underrated. I must also note that they put on an absolutely KILLER live show and are some of the nicest dudes I've ever met, so be sure to check them out live and buy this record because it's an excellent piece of work. Oh yeah, their cover of Negative Approach's "Evacuate" on this disc is a real monster. So stop reading and get a hold of this disc, you won't regret it! For fans of anything from Acid Bath and Neurosis to Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, this is some seriously diverse stuff!
rating: 
JS
SlowEnd.com
Dans le département du Massachusetts (USA), se trouve une ville industrielle du nom de Lowell. Célčbre pour son Coca-Cola® et son héroďne, ce lieu gris et morne a, par ailleurs, vu naître l’illustre écrivain Jack Kerouac dont l'oeuvre aurait sűrement été plus optimiste s’il avait grandit autre part…
Presque 40 ans depuis la mort de Kerouac, et Lowell continue d’inspirer la dépression ŕ ses natifs. C’est justement le cas d’Ichabod qui, en 7 années d’existence et 3 albums, n’a pas tari sur l’inappétence ŕ la vie… Les textes du groupe, pour le moins pessimistes, évoluent dans une ambiance mystique et ésotérique que Scott Cranmer, auteur du magnifique artwork de 'Reaching Empyrean', a particuličrement bien saisi.
Mais attention, le mystique et l’ésotérique ne sont pas ici synonymes d’hippie, męme s’il y a trčs certainement quelques influences psychédéliques lŕ-dessous, mais quel groupe de rock n’en a pas ? Il y a bien cette intro du titre ‘Reaching Empyrean’ qui pourrait faire vaguement penser ŕ du space rock, mais vraiment un bref moment : jusqu’ŕ ce que Ken MacKay commence ŕ se soulager de cris gutturaux en fait…
Voilŕ, on arrivera beaucoup mieux ŕ cerner Ichabod en parlant de cris gutturaux. Ces quatre gars font une sorte de stoner / hardcore herculéen : les riffs lourds et lents de rigueur pour le côté stoner, et un chant trčs souvent agressif, de ceux qui sont hurlés ŕ en devenir tout rouge, pour le côté hardcore. ‘Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye’ illustre bien cette derničre facette du groupe par son caractčre allegro furioso, et plus encore ‘Evacuate’, jouissive reprise des (justement hardcoreux) Negative Approach.
Dans cette violence ambiante se cachent néanmoins des titres plus reposants, pas mauvais pour autant. ‘Manna’, un acoustique aux back vocals féminins, et ‘Violet Sky’, encore un acoustique qui lui ne tarde pas ŕ s’envoler vers des sphčres beaucoup moins légčres…
Signalons que c’est Ethan Dussault qui s’est chargé d’orchestrer l’enregistrement de 'Reaching Empyrean', comme il l’a déjŕ fait avec Cave In, Solace ou encore We’re All Gonna Die pour faire court. De la musique de tapette donc…
Reaching empyrean en trois mots : fort, résigné, fondé -marystonage, Avril 2005
LET THE BAD TIMES ROLL (2003 Rootsucker Records) - TOP
by Dave Brenner (Nov. 2003)
Like a good whiskey, Ichabod has improved with age. Last year [see last year's review] this Massachusetts quartet delivered diverse/coarse tripped-out heavy rock. "Let the Bad Times Roll" shows musical progress and an expanding of their wide range of influence with eight invigorating, creative, dynamic outlets of rage and emotion. Brandishing a lethal dose of stoner rock and a sludgy hardcore backbone, adding a dozen new sounds and well-written rock buildups in every song, it's all brought to life by the king of all noise himself, Steve Austin (Today is the Day, owner of Austin Enterprises). Ichabod takes you on a psychedelic/neck-breaking ride through the bong tube, its highlight the punk-inspired assripper "Ceramic Bulldog" that opens up the drunken gates of Hell right into a junkyard circle pit, flooring you with some seriously lethal rock fit for any occasion.
Masked in a hazy metal/stoner rock/hardcore realm of existence, Massachusetts' Ichabod rumble through an array of numbers that radiate such a slumberous sound that, as the record goes on, the weight of the album rests upon you shoulders, making it almost unbearable to deal with. And it should come as no surprise – with a sound so chaotic, heavy, yet calculated like this – that producer Reverend Steve Austin (of Today Is The Day fame) was involved in helping the Ichabod boys draw up plans for their massive noise machine. Let the Bad Times Roll is a series of bizarre passages coming together as one – and working. A definite mindfuck if there ever was one…
by Adrian Bromley
ICHABOD (Let The Bad Times Roll) CD: I could start with an endless list of ICHABOD's influences, but certainly this isn't the best way to describe this highly interesting album. ICHABOD are a Boston-based band, and are aware of the old Punk/Hardcore history of their hometown, but they managed to combine it with elements of psychedelic, wave, noise, doom and more. The result is dark and twisted, and I needed more than one or two spins, to get into the complete album. This band isn't repeating well-known Sludge patterns, not only because of this psychedelic ambience, the claustrophobic sound surrounds. ICHABOD got not much in common with the so-called Sludge sub-genre. The music got a strong progressive edge, with a lot of chord changes, but everything is still very organic, and to make is more diverse with riff-driven up tempo numbers like in "Ceramic Bulldog."The different vocal-style, that are ranging from soft melodies to harsh agression outbreaks.
What I like about this band, is their intention to create a heavy intense free-floating sound, that's still emotional, with some uplifting moments. I think, they have done their job very well, although here are a few long-winding parts included, that aren't really convincing me. But apart of it, It's defenitely an intensive listening adventure, but be open-mind enough for ICHABOD. The best is, to do nothing else and give it three spins in one. Steve Austin of Today Is The Day has produced the album, what adds a special dirty low-end sickness to it. There's a photo inside the tasteful designed informative booklet, where the band is sitting around a smoking water-pipe, what's maybe one of the reasons for the Hawkwind-like parts in the sound. This album should be attractive for a lot of listeners out there, as long as you like it complex and intense. This album has been released last year 2002 on Root Sucker Records/Black Locust Entertainment. (KK)
Let The Bad Times Roll Very fucking impressive bluesy stoner rock (or whatever you want to fucking call it) with a bit of a southern swagger thrown in. Catchy riffs and vocals that bounce between crooning and screaming, depending on the mood of the song. Suplecs and Alabama Thunderpussy are good references. Dig ‘em! (BB)
WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE, ICHABOD, ELDEMUR KRIMM, PARANOID
O'Brien's 9/12/03 (Live review)
Everything I like about hard rock music is summed up in Paranoid. In the tradition of COC, Black Label Society and southern metal in general, Paranoid write songs that mimic these greats without ripping them off. The drummer's thrashy style does a lot to prevent the plagiarism, his quick, crisp style belonging more to modern metal. But the vocalist/ lead guitarist in this power trio is laying down an old school, crunchy, heavy metal soundwave. The bassist is laying down some mean Geezer Butler style fills. The whole band digs in and gallops along through splashy puddles of staggered distortion in a unified evocation of Sabbathy simplicity. Then they're sounding like Soundgarden's lost album. They rock so hard that they've got the old timers in the crowd yelling "Who the fuck are you?!!!" with a desperate need to know in their voices. I predict that people won't need to ask in the future.
The Gibson-fueled quartet of Eldemur Krimm continue the trend of '70s hard rock influence in this night at O'Brien's. No, I have no idea where they came up with that name, but the retro vibration runs even deeper here. Very guitar-driven, with all the instruments supporting a fat, thick sound as deep as the sin of man. I keep being reminded of obscure '70s hard rock outfits, but can't decide which one. They're an informed synthesis of the past three decades of rock, with compositions that stomp, explode and cruise along. The tall, long-haired, lead singer/guitarist is talking some bizarre, humorous shit in between songs, which gives evidence of where the rich character of their music comes from. They're a band whose music has an aura of mythos to it as if their catalog is a canon that the crowd is being initiated in. The room responds favorably throughout.
At first I think Ichabod is a band dominated by a great bass player. His cool, watery bass sound stands out throughout their set. Combined with a lead vocalist with an interesting, almost off-key singing style and a drummer who's a rattling, bass thud of adrenal discharge, Ichabod sounds pretty good. They're another band dipping into the well of obscure '70s hard rock sounds, at times alien, sometimes scary, at others just strange. The singer erupts now and again, gravelly rage blaring from his throat. They maintain a level of meanness for their set, and that power seems to come from their bassist, who the whole band seems to orbit around (I later find out that the guitarist was having technical difficulties the whole time). By the end, the lead singer is screeching like one of Tolkein's Ringwraiths. They leave the stage just as they were getting warmed up.
We're All Gonna Die take the stage to much cheering. OB's is now filled up with people getting in to see this hard rock power trio. In an evening of bands carrying on the traditions of hard rock, these guys are the kings. They unleash their savage guitar sound/rock and roll vocals, hectic, precise drumming and rock solid bass line, and OB's is suddenly the epicenter of a sweet audio discharge. There's so much of what I would consider outstanding musical influences woven into We're All Gonna Die's sound. The crunchiness of pre-Napster Metallica, the vocal intensity of The Cult, the attitude and heaviness of Sabbath, the cocksure slickness of Zeppelin, the three piece firepower of Cream. This stream of incessant, driving music washes over the crowd like manna from rock and roll heaven. The downbeat gets so thick and sludgy you can smoke it. It ends all too soon.
(Joe Hacking)
From the ashes of several Boston-area bands comes Ichabod, a band that plays crushing heapages of reality and aggression spewed from the mouth of singer Ken MacKay and backed by the groove and determination of the remaining three members, Dave Iverson (guitars), Phil MacKay (drums, harmonica) and Greg Dellaria (bass).
From the onset of this album it is clear that the band draws from many influences both metal and hardcore. Ichabod can really stick it to you hard with numbers as the single "John Rocker", the furious "Inglorious" and the crash and burn attitude of "World without end/pigs mask" The sludge riffing on "Escape the lie" and "500 miles behind" is reminiscent of Crowbar-style groove. Ken MacKay shifts from a Serj Tankian’s (System of a Down) vocal style to a Gary Meskill (Pro-Pain) approach, back and forth which allows his wailing style and structure to show off his variety. The music is adorned with a beautiful sitar, bluesy harmonica and siren vocals. But I have to admit, the songs don’t all hang together equally well, so they should have cranked up the good ones and cut some of their mediocre ones.
Give this CD a good listen, and I'm sure you'll find something to your liking.
82/100 cosmicmasseur
you know, it's been a while since i've gotten a good ol' fashioned sludgy record. so to hear this record was pretty damn refreshing. in what seems to be a cross blend of many sub-genres of metal music, whether it be sludge, stoner, doom, or just good ol' metal, these guys take it all and blend it together for what is a pretty damn awesome record. often reminding me of a mix between milligram, scissorfight, and roadsaw, these guys do not disappoint at all. i like the vocals on this record a lot, as they have a lot of range in them, and i love the band's knack for melody and overall delivery. they are pretty fierce, and when they're going at it, they go at it hard. the breakdown/jam parts on this record are awesome.
a damn good release. i hope to hear more from these guys in the future, as they definitely have got me hooked. if you're into sludgy/stoner rock stuff, you'd love this one!
Damn, those New Englanders sure can be hard to pigeonhole, ya know? First there's Cable, one of the region's best bands, and now there's Ichabod, from Massachusetts. I dunno, maybe its all them edumacated peoples walking around up there with too many idears floating around in their haids. Whatever; Ichabod are all over the underground map, serving up a tall Seagram's 7 glass full of psych, doom, punk, stoner, space, crust, and metal straight with no chaser. Its pure hell on the throat, but you'll be thanking the bartender soon enough. Along with the above-referenced Cable, Ichabod is on the bleeding edge of some new musical mutation, gathering up different styles and genres of metal and throwing them like a handful of shurikin at your musical expectations and laughing at the result. This music has a wide range of emotion, high intensity, and wide dynamics. Initially I was a bit confused by it all, but like all good albums its a grower, and I found myself putting it on far more often than I needed to for a simple review. The sound quality gets the spit and polish from none other than Steve Austin who, coincidentally, also produced Cable's new 'Never Trust a Gemini.' He's one hell of a knob twirler. The music is aggressive, beautiful at times, but not at all pretty. Its just as often grating as it is clean, thanks in large part to the alternative vocal stylings of Ken MacKay. I'm not much for screamers, but this guy can do it with the best of them, The tunes are as claustrophobic as the black basement of a derelict textile mill in the band's hometown of Lowell , Massachusetts. But you know what? There's some sunlight filtering in through that broken window up by the ceiling. A light at the end of the tunnel, you might say. So don't get too bummed out. The tuneage is jam-packed with stylistic variety, building on a foundation of doom and sludge. 'Inglorious' has a healthy dose of said sludge, with screaming mixed with breathless, clean vocals, Sabbathy musical change-ups, and even a bit of indy for flavor. 'Escape the Lie' makes you wonder if you're still listening to the same band, with its 'In Search of Space' Hawkwind drone going on until, yes, the sludge comes marching in. Not one of these songs begins and ends in the same way. 'Face Down Riverbed Blues' begins with some nice harp work, transitioning into some heavy doom riffing, while 'Ceramic Bulldog' speeds things up with a little punk sludge. 'World Without End.Pig's Mask' sums up the whole album for me: its kickass, doomy, groovy, sludgy, just a hell of a track. 'Break her Neck Before she Breaks Your Heart' sports some sitar (!) jamming and some evil sampling from Dennis Hopper, if I'm not mistaken. The danger with this kind of thing is that a band that wanders this far afield can lose its identity. Not so with these guys, thanks to the sludgy doom to which they keep returning. So lovers of Sourvein, Godflesh, 70s metal, Cable, Converge, and Neurosis rejoice! Ichabod are here and your name is next on their list. Kevin McHugh
Ichabod Let the Bad Times Roll This is some negative shit. I fucking love it. It starts off on a very slow, droning, stoner binge. Fuck stoner, weed wouldn’t be enough for these cats. I’m thinking maybe heroin...no, more like a morphine drip. Yes, that fits it perfectly. Vocalist Ken MacKay, when he actually sings, somes off like a desperate, drugged Jonah Jenkins (Only Living Witness, for those of you-- read: NONE of you--who remember) Some of this is as easily digested as say, Queens of the Stone Age, while a lot of it as much more harsh. Fans of Bongzilla, EYEHATEGOD,and the like will smoke this right up. Negativity, depression, and despair are the theme throughout this entire platter, and based on my life right now, I fucking love this shit. The last track, beautifully named “Break Her Neck Before She Breaks Your Heart” (if only I had thought of that, eh?), is opened and closed with a haunting sitar intro. Good good shit. Where did these guys come from, and why am I not seeing them play every night? (Rool Sucker Records/ Black Locust Entertainment) Chris X
ICHABOD - Let The Bad Times Roll (Black Locust Entertainment~2002) This band, comprised of several guys from New England area bands, are quite a surprise ! I didn´t know what to expect after looking at the album cover and flipping through the booklet but as soon as "Let The Bad Times Roll" started playing I was hit by something that I have a really hard time coming up with words to describe. Each song has a life of it´s own and is completely different from the other and as far as I´m concerned this is a great aspect of this band ! You find something interesting in every song. Some songs feature awesomely groovy music in the style of KYUSS and even some nods towards BLACK SABBATH while others are intensely insane like the music that DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN composes. You´ve got melodies, insanity, heaviness, clean vocals, out of control vocals, mesmerizing guitar leads and simply put an album that is compelling and intriguing. You really just have to hear this yourselves. -Cheryl
I remember seeing these cats at a local dive one night when they were mismatched with a gaggle of motorpunk bands. They were stomping around like metalcore outfits often do, the PBR and belt buckle crowd looking aghast and slightly offended. A frustrated Ken Mackay, Ichabod's surly lead singer, stared out at the unresponsive Supersuckers fans and said, "Maybe if we wore cowboy hats, you'd like us better?" Well, yeah. Luckily, the aggro-jock vibe does not translate to disc, and Ichabod come off as more of a flipped out psyche-grunge outfit than Pantera-be's here. Dave Iverson's guitar is an acidic viper snapping from every angle, and really pushes Ichabod's sound into search and destroy territory, and when the groove really hits home, as on "500 Miles Behind", they're like a bulletproof, steel-plated Fu Manchu, or maybe Skrew high on dune buggy fumes. Something cool like that. It's still more jock than Rawk, really, but I reckon that's exactly how they want it.
Also Published in Throat Culture Magazine:
See also their latest spinoff zine:
ICHABOD LET THE BAD TIMES ROLL BLACK LOCUST Ichabod is an edgy New England based outfit whose eight-track release, produced by Today is the Day's Steve Austin, portrays the bleakness of an industrial wasteland unencumbered with thoroughfare. Thanks to the band's stoic sound, Ichabod rates right up there with Clutch, Sixty Watt Shaman, and Karma To Burn as wranglers of the left of center noise patrol. Ranging at times from Seattle grunge to crusty doom rock, and hitting all points in between, Ichabod takes you through the plight of the middle class, rock 'n' rolling American male, complete with hallucinogenic musical interludes, fits of sonic rage, and a solid stoner rock backbone that gives Ichabod's fuzzy metal all of its unde[n]iable charm. www.ichabodrocks.com -Mike SOS
DEAD ANGEL
Well, this is kind of interesting... a sick mating of grindcore and pure hopeless doom, like early Black Sabbath (before they got lost in the hills o' coke) with grindcore's fizzy high end and old-school doom riffing. Singer King MacKay often sounds like a Dixie-fried answer to early Ozzy and the rest of the band is pure blind old-school doom. Seismic basslines pound away behind endless, grinding riffs like Warning doing battle with Godflesh over a constant mid-seventies metal vibe. As far as these guys are concerned, piddly stuff like punk, new wave, nu-metal, skater rock, and the like never happened, which is maybe not such a bad attitude. (Okay, they do achieve a punk velocity of sorts on "Ceramic Bulldog," but it just sounds like Black Sabbath on 78, so I'm not sure that means anything.) Subtle off-kilter rhythms, abrupt mood swings and tempo shifts, constant waves of sinister riffing... this sounds like a band that rehearses a lot, always a positive development. They make me think of Warning a lot, only these guys are nowhere near as slow and distinctly American (they're from Boston, if you're keeping track of these things). The eight songs on this disc were recorded by Steve Austin of Today is the Day, so you know it sounds loud and heavy and the drum sounds like a real fucking drum instead of like some dazed art collector hitting a toilet bowl with rocks (Bob Rock and Lars Ulrich, are you listening?). When you go back to the music store to return your shitty-sounding copy of ST. ANGER, you should get this instead. You'll be making a wiser investment. - RKF
Melancholy in music...I love it. Ichabod from MA did an album which is damn melacholic. In Ichabod´s music flows every kind of music from Sludge to Stoner over Psychedelic, but the main influence is Doom. I like the way Ken uses his voice, he crawls, he sings, he whispers and he screams...damn emotional. At times Ken reminds me of Dan the vocalist of SlowHorse. How´s the sound? Perfect!!! Ichabod brings new wind into the Heavy/Stoner genre and they´re not afraid to experiment around and find new ways to make their music more interesting. You can´t really tell which genre they are, but this is good!!!
rating: 
- RB, Daredevil.de, April 2003
Ichabod are a melding of musicians from around industrial Lowell, MA. Not a pretty place, I hear. Makes sense. The music of Ichabod reflects a good measure of ugly, downtrodden environment. Not the kind of thing you'd create if your childhood home was sunny Carmel, CA or somewhere equally privileged and bucolic. Ichabod is about anger, depression and... thank God... catharis.
The Ichabod experience is unquestionably heavy, but the music transcends the word as we know it. Interwoven with the brutish compression of downtuned power chords lies a feeling of space, even feelings of hope, like they're gonna beat the drug addiction and lethargy associated with their childhood home. Vocalist Ken MacKay let's loose with what seems to be extemporaneous exorcising of demons in an early Rollins/Anselmo-like emotional scream. Then to further unsteady any preconception you might have, he'll roll in with a croon very similar to Dege Legg of Santeria. In fact, I thought that Ichabod might be a resident of the NOLA scene, with it's all around claustrophobic feeling, swamp groove and penchant for experimentation with sitar, harmonica and acoustic guitar. They even remind me a bit of what EyeHateGod would sound like in a jam with Santeria and Neurosis. Brute force tempered with psychedelia and ambient space.
It's all pretty heady stuff, actually. Let the Bad Times Roll is one of those heavy music releases that turns it's back on convention and refuses to be categorized. It's as intellectual as it is punishing. One hell of a debut.
- Chris Barnes, Hellridemusic.com, April 2003
Once in a while a band comes along that pushes the envelope a little more than the bands before them, and in a tasteful manner, and that is the tricky part.
Ichabod has a serious aggressive sound that is crust core, metal and deep seeded classic rock influence, almost garage at times. Their sound is always intense and delivers a message similar to a caterpillar plowing through a pile of rubble.
The guitar work is impressive on this CD- there are tricky metal quick galloping parts and angular riffs throughout that shout evil. The overall band is tight and well rehearsed and never off. A good tight unit to say the least. Their sound reminds me of everything from Man is the Bastard to Melvins to Buzzoven...just plain blistering high energy and intense throughout! It`s got some spacalicous moments too like Hawkwind saturated in spacey effects and even at times this stuff hints towards MC5- a strange combination that Ichabod does well.
Get this CD if you want something that isn`t just run of the mill, and a little different, even some Bongzilla moments in there too if you know what I mean...check it out for the sakes of Rock!
- Rob Wrong, Stonerrock.com, April 2003
Un disco prodotto da Steve Austin dei Today Is The Day a cosa vi fa pensare? Esatto, un viaggio negli inferi, in un universo oscuro e perverso, nei meandri della follia umana. Gli Ichabod sono questo e non solo: nella loro proposta (ostica e difficile, questo va detto subito) convergono metal, hardcore, rock psichedelico, noise, sludge, doom, industrial e space rock, tutti uniti nel forgiare un sound unico, rabbioso, ricco di stimolanti chiaroscuri.
E’ proprio la coincidenza degli opposti ciň che rende particolare questa band proveniente da Boston: mentre l’iniziale “Inglorious” ci flagella con i suoi riff taglienti all’improvviso spuntano una chitarra acustica e una melodia sofferta a rendere l’ascolto meno tortuoso. Lo stesso accade in “Escape the lie”, quando l’incipit dilatato e liquido lascia spazio a suoni cupi, a metŕ strada tra Neurosis e Melvins, senza mai perdere di vista un certo senso armonico che risulta sempre presente per tutta la durata del disco. Questa vena multiforme fa parte del background di ogni componente del gruppo, a partire dal vocalist Ken MacKay, capace di alternare vocalizzi puliti ad altri urlati, fino ad arrivare alla base ritmica (Phil MacKay alla batteria e Gred Dellaria al basso), passando per le chitarre ora uggiose ora feroci di Dave Iverson.
Atmosfere claustrofobiche e improvvisi squarci di luce, tutto vive lungo questo parallelo: un’armonica ci sorprende in “Face down riverbed blues” prima che il brano esploda in un episodio degno dei migliori Down, accelerazioni perverse e una melodia sotterranea caratterizzano “Ceramic bulldog”, ossessive trame ritmiche ci fanno trattenere il respiro durante “500 miles behind”. Se pensate che “John rocker” č stata scelta come primo singolo viene da ridere immaginando un mucchio di sbarbati che ascoltano questa colata di lava bollente mista ad assurdi drones elettronici…
Prima che cali il sipario le lunghe “World without end/Pig’s mask” e “Break her neck before she breaks your heart” regalano le ultime perle di un disco pazzesco: č soprattutto la seconda a sbalordire chi ascolta grazie a psichedelici innesti di sitar che si mescolano con la rabbia sprigionata dalla chitarra e dalle ritmiche.
Un lavoro che lascia allibiti, per qualitŕ tecniche e doti compositive. Un trip da vivere assolutamente, magari a luci spente durante un temporale…
Living Rain
Ichabod - Let the Bad Times Roll (review by Josh)
This band is certainly one of many faces. First, they wow me with a tripped out stoner vibe and then proceed to beat the living daylights out of me! It could only be Lowell, MA's very own, Ichabod. Ichabod, taking their name from the lead character in The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, have more in common with the demented headless rider than Ichabod Crane. Coming at you with their own brand of stoner rock fury and a penchant for danger, these dudes have some real potential in the scene!
Let The Bad Times Roll was recorded by Today Is The Day loon, Steve Austin, and his signature recording style is all over it! Raw, gritty, and to the freaking point! But then again, that's just how I like it and Ichabod does it to absolute perfection! From the dark and brooding complexity of album opener, "Inglorious", to the undeniable fury of "Ceramic Bulldog", Ichabod manages to deliver quality songs that any metaller, stoner, or music fan in general will enjoy! Break out the bongs, Ichabod is here to stay!
Josh
Ichabod: Let the Bad Times Roll CD (Root Sucker Records)
Stonerdelic slab of heavy music thunder and high intensity introspective lyrics that resonate in your cerebral cortex like early morning THC soaked fever dreams. I love bands like Ichabod that write intelligent songs that are still rock crushers. I'm usually happy to find just a couple of songs like that on a CD, but I'm absolutely floored when a release shows up like this one where every track kills the canary. The dynamic development, minor/major chord changes, and bass heavy breakdowns on "John Rocker" are sabstone brilliant. Then "500 Miles Behind" takes you on a psychedelic magic carpet ride before breaking to a killer, down fretted riff of heavenly heavy glory. (Note: These two songs are reversed on the track list). I could go on raving about every song, but you get the idea. This is the kind of heady, trippy stoner rock you save for spinning with that special bag of lime green, orange/purple haired, piney smelling, sweet tasting, smooth smoking, brain melting superweed. They even sample the insanely perfect Frank Booth line form Blue Velvet at exactly the right spot, as a lead in to closing tune "Break Her Neck Before She Breaks Your Heart". Absolutely my favorite Steve Austin production ever. The brothers Ichabod have recorded a masterpiece.
- Glenn Tillman.
DistortedMudBath.com
European Language site - see full review here
Ichabod - Let the Bad Times Roll
Lelkem megkeményítve tettem be a CD játszóba az Ichabod anyagát, mint szépreményű noise brigádot. Legalábbis előzetes infóim ezek voltak a bandáról. A dolgot csak tetézte, hogy a Today is the Day tag Steve Austin működött közre hangmérnök/producerként a lemez elkészítésénél. Ehhez képest a képlet mégsem lett olyan egyszerű.
Nagyon sok helyről merít a csapat. Úgy indítják az album első másodperceit, hogy a hallgatónak azonnal beszűkül a pupillája, aztán mintha mi sem történt volna átmennek stonerbe a stílustól meglehetősen idegen, alterosan hányaveti, néhol punkos ízű, sok dallamot hozó énekkel, de nem áll távol tőlük ugyanazon számon belül a 60-as évek pszichedelikus csapatainak világa sem. Nagyjából ezek a hangulatok érhetőek tetten az Ichabod számainak többségében, nem egyszer egy számon belül is. A megszokott hangszereket gyakran túlvilági hangulatú effektek, emberi hangfoszlányok színesítik. A csapat legfőbb és legszuggesztívebb kifejezőeszköze az ének. Ken MacKay elég változatosan énekel, legtöbbször panaszosan, hamiskásan nyafog, vagy szaval, máshol rendkívüli dallamokat hoz, de ha úgy tartja kedve ordít, ahogy a csövön kifér. Sokszor van ilyen kedve, főleg a lemez második felében. A hangszeres szekció megbízhatóan alapoz. A gitárok természetesen a stonerség elvárásaihoz hűen a béka segge alá vannak hangolva, nehogy szó érje a ház elejét. A dobok sajnos félre lettek keverve az én ízlésemhez képest. Az rendben van, hogy Phil MacKay a pergőt használja előszeretettel, de szeretnék ezen kívül mást is markánsabban hallani a dobokból.
Hatásaikat egy végtelenül egyedi masszává sikerült gyúrniuk. Megjelenik itt természetesen a Today is the Day, és a Neurosis is nem tolakodó hatásként, de pl. a Black Sabbath sötétebb pillanatait is sokat hallgathatták, vagy a 70 évek második felének punk nagyjait. A sok hozzávalót összegyúrva pedig egyfajta pszicho-noize-stoner-punk frissensültet kapunk, ami a gyanútlan hallgatónak könnyen megülheti a gyomrát.
A világtól és a realitásoktól jócskán elrugaszkodott zene ez. Egy sajátos, egyedi dimenzió, amelynek színei a Neurosist idéző borító fekete-fehérjét és sötétszürkéjét hozzák. Vagy sikerül magadtól ráhangolódnod, vagy erőszakkal teszi ezt meg helyetted. Nem a fület megterhelően kemény, hanem lelket. Egy biztos, nem viccelnek a fiúk, sőt nagyon is komolyak.
ICHABOD Let the bad times roll Un disco prodotto da Steve Austin dei Today Is The Day a cosa vi fa pensare? Esatto, un viaggio negli inferi, in un universo oscuro e perverso, nei meandri della follia umana. Gli Ichabod sono questo e non solo: nella loro proposta (ostica e difficile, questo va detto subito) convergono metal, hardcore, rock psichedelico, noise, sludge, doom, industrial e space rock, tutti uniti nel forgiare un sound unico, rabbioso, ricco di stimolanti chiaroscuri. E' proprio la coincidenza degli opposti ciň che rende particolare questa band proveniente da Boston: mentre l'iniziale "Inglorious" ci flagella con i suoi riff taglienti all'improvviso spuntano una chitarra acustica e una melodia sofferta a rendere l'ascolto meno tortuoso. Lo stesso accade in "Escape the lie", quando l'incipit dilatato e liquido lascia spazio a suoni cupi, a metŕ strada tra Neurosis e Melvins, senza mai perdere di vista un certo senso armonico che risulta sempre presente per tutta la durata del disco. Questa vena multiforme fa parte del background di ogni componente del gruppo, a partire dal vocalist Ken MacKay, capace di alternare vocalizzi puliti ad altri urlati, fino ad arrivare alla base ritmica (Phil MacKay alla batteria e Gred Dellaria al basso), passando per le chitarre ora uggiose ora feroci di Dave Iverson. Atmosfere claustrofobiche e improvvisi squarci di luce, tutto vive lungo questo parallelo: un'armonica ci sorprende in "Face down riverbed blues" prima che il brano esploda in un episodio degno dei migliori Down, accelerazioni perverse e una melodia sotterranea caratterizzano "Ceramic bulldog", ossessive trame ritmiche ci fanno trattenere il respiro durante "500 miles behind". Se pensate che "John rocker" č stata scelta come primo singolo viene da ridere immaginando un mucchio di sbarbati che ascoltano questa colata di lava bollente mista ad assurdi drones elettronici… Prima che cali il sipario le lunghe "World without end/Pig's mask" e "Break her neck before she breaks your heart" regalano le ultime perle di un disco pazzesco: č soprattutto la seconda a sbalordire chi ascolta grazie a psichedelici innesti di sitar che si mescolano con la rabbia sprigionata dalla chitarra e dalle ritmiche. Un lavoro che lascia allibiti, per qualitŕ tecniche e doti compositive. Un trip da vivere assolutamente, magari a luci spente durante un temporale… Alessandro Zoppo
Melancholy. That’s the first word that comes to mind listening to Ichabod’s “Let The Bad Times Roll.” I associate this group’s sound somewhere between hardcore and metal. Tool fans could easily identify with the morose vocals, however Ichabod’s experimentation with texture and effects (phasers, sitar, and even harmonicas) add a variety that could attract an audience beyond the typical aggressive rock listener. Estrangement (“World Without End”) and contempt (“Break Her Neck Before She Breaks Your Heart”) are the significant themes on this CD. It’s no wonder, considering that the group originates from the decaying industrial city of Lowell, MA. It’s definitely not a life altering CD, but my hat is off for the passionate material and creative production. -Robert Jimison
Depending heavily upon the subjectivity of the listener, Ichabod has been described as everything from hardcore to hard rock, punk to psychedelic, crust to metal, doom to stoner rock, noise to spacerock, and seemingly all else in between. But to commit this band to one genre would be restrictive, for the influences vary indefinitely. The band members themselves are wary of such labels for this very reason. The common threads are the organic atmospherics and claustrophobic energy that pervade the music, but never without there being light at the end of the tunnel. Striking matches in the darkness, Today is the Day mastermind Steve Austin captured a glimpse of the Ichabod reality whilst recording "Let the Bad Times Roll". So listen carefully, and if you can stand to let your eyes adjust to the blackness, look for the light in Ichabod's epitaph for humanity…
Ichabod's "Let the Bad Times Roll" is one of those CDs that's virtually impossible to categorize or, for that matter, even compare to other bands. "Let the Bad Times Roll" has at least a little in common with the stoner genre, as the guitars are dense and fuzzy, plodding around at most times rather than racing. But elements of 60s bands like The Doors are also often present, as well as are the screaming vocals of modern metal. The tempo of the songs herein runs from speedy ("Inglorious," "Ceramic Bulldog") to the slower ("Escape the Lie," "500 Miles Behind"). Even the slower songs chug along with nice, steady, chunky guitars. Regardless of the tempo, each song is interesting. A perfect example is "John Rocker" which runs at a medium tempo but is so loaded with atmosphere it easily branches out into something different, fresh and truly original. Fans of the stoner rock genre will easily identify with Ichabod's guitar sound but those looking for something a little different in their metal will be the real . Reviewed by R. Scott Bolton
Review by Chris La Tray
There are so many ways to get your ass kicked by rock music, and I love that. You have the steady kick-snare, kick-snare combination at alternating quarters of bands like AC/DC, who grab that beat and pound you into submission. Then there is the relentless onslaught of a band like Slayer, who will wear you down with pure speed and fury. And let us not forget a band like Sleep, who will suck you under the surface and flat drown you with layer upon layer of distortion. Let the Bad Times Roll is something else entirely. I imagine that, if I were to ever commit a crime dastardly enough to warrant execution by the electric chair, the sound I hear ringing in my ears as the zillions of volts of energy are spraying my eyeballs all over the inside of my hood would sound something like Lowell, MA's Ichabod. Ever see how electricity dances and shimmies between two poles? That is what this music is like -- frenetic, unpredictable, and blue-bright as a lightning bolt. Even the sound of the record is like static; this is no warm, zoned-out stoner record. The fuzz is like the buzzing of a TV turned way up with no antenna . . . and I would bet wads of cash that singer Ken MacKay drinks way too much fucking coffee. If he doesn't, then he better stay well away from the shit, because I'm sure it would make his heart explode. One of the things that intrigues me about bands is how their music reflects where they are from. To that end, this paragraph from their bio interests me: "Most of the members of Ichabod are indigenous to the greater Lowell, MA area, a city whose abundant melancholy is evident in the landscape of mill husks and industrial scarring; where drab childhoods become drug habits and the complexities of immigration and postindustrial anxiety are forever immortalized in the intoxicated verse of Jack Kerouac. Although the four have lived or currently live elsewhere, they seem incapable of escaping their roots in the Mill City. This background plays a major role in Ichabod's sound." So what is that sound? Impossible to describe or categorize, really. It is loud rock with lots of influences from punk, hardcore, metal, noise, you name it. Lots of instrumentation has been added to the mix, so there is plenty to listen for. This record is challenging; you aren't going to throw it on in the background and expect to not be distracted by it -- for better or worse, you better listen closely or don't try and listen at all. Vocals range from murmurs to overwrought groans to throat shredding howls. If there is one thing that will likely keep this record off my CD player more often than not, it is that I just can't relate to a whole lot of screaming. But I can sure as hell appreciate what these guys are trying to accomplish, and I respect their efforts to be creative -- they are succeeding. This music is noisy as hell, but it ain't just noise. If you want something different, that is aggressive as anything out there but doesn't fit in any neat little genre box, definitely give Ichabod a try. That way, when they show up in the news because some distraught parent is suing them because little Jeremy had their music in his MP3 player when he swallowed a bottle of mommy's pills, you can brag to all your hipster friends about how you've been listening to them for years. . . Published on 08/01/03
Cult 'Zine
I reviewed this band's last CD, put out independently, in the last issue of Metal Union Fanzine. While the band has improved and their style for the most part remained untouched, I have to say I didn't like it as much. I have a bad taste left in my mouth where the metalcore and stoner rock scenes are concerned. One bad experience at a club putting up with the bullshit I get forcefed with these two genres ruined my tastes for both of them. But personal biases notwithstanding, ICHABOD's newest is above the norm for stoner rock. Produced by the omni-present Steve Austin of TODAY IS THE DAY (another band I don't like, mind you) fame, needless to say, it sounds pretty damn cool. The production is pleasantly old-school while uniformly clear and buzz-filled. I also like the whole imagery thing that this band does. The lyrics are personal, the art is forboding, and there is a running theme of psychedelia here and there. I appreciate this band keeping me updated. They've got a decent future ahead of them. (emphasis ours).
- Andrew Parrish
These guys are from Lowell, Massachusetts, so I automatically like them. Musically, this CD is all over the Metal, Stoner, Prog, Psych, Crust landscape, and hitting the nails on the head in most of these categories, delivering a solid CD of mixed-up styles. It's kind of different that way & definitely worth picking up.
Formed in 1998 by ex-members of a multitude of Boston-area bands, Ichabod embarked upon the heady task of creating their own brand of metal embedded music. After a few line up changes and a couple of recording sessions, that made it on four different compilations, Ichabod landed a record deal with Black Locust Entertainment. At this point, they finally had the chance to lay down some tracks for the masses to enjoy in a CD format.
The "Let the Bad Times Roll" release can't really be categorized into one specific genre. The heavy metal influences run deep in each of the songs but this unit only utilizes the metal edge as a foundation instead of making the style a focal point. It's what's above the foundation that makes this CD a breath of fresh air. Gone are the now overdrawn aggro then emotional transitions. An excerpt or two might be present but you are too occupied with trying to figuring out how they could combine such a wide matrix of musical modalities. From punk to hard-core, rock to metal and psychedelia to death, Ichabod's CD envelopes all of it in a lavish, ear-splitting composition.
Songs like "Inglorious" begin with a death metal angle and screech to a halt just prior to befitting something akin to the early days of Danzig. The shifts are relatively level enough, making them suitable for a drastic change without sounding embroiled. Then when you think you have a handle on it, a song like "Escape the Lie" comes on, smashing any notions of what you think they sound like. This particular tune has as a spacy, acid rock feel to it with a somber, enigmatic mood until it crescendos into full blown rage. Most of the time when a band attempts to input drastically different musical scales into their songs, they sound like they are lost or flustered. Ichabod doesn't represent those characteristics in virtually all of the songs on the CD. This is a windfall as far as the music scene goes.
To describe their sound, you will have to think of bands like Iggy pop, Danzig, The cramps, Morbid Angel, Clutch and maybe a fraction of something from the experimental days of Jimmi Hendrix. It can be simultaneously gritty, sludge-like and combustible with a propensity of downsizing the thick tones into dulcet segues. It would behoove you to make the effort to go out and see this band. Pick up the CD and head out to one of the many local venues they frequent. You won't be displeased.
- Brodie Holmen, Eastcoastromper.com, May 2003
www.eastcoastromper.com
Ichabod's latest album, "Let the Bad Times Roll", is a pretty interesting and adventurous album with influences ranging from hardcore to doom metal to spacerock to psychedelia and seemingly all else in between.
Though it's very difficult to confine this band to one genre, the overall feelin' of the album is one of pervasive blackness and claustrophobic atmosphere. The empty mills and industrial desolation of home town Lowell, MA provide the perfect backdrop for Ichabod's moody tales of hope and despair. Not for the faint-hearted.
Walter
Boston area heavies Ichabod mark their official debut with “Let The Bad Times Roll” – a vast 8 song-er here (clocking in at almost 60 minutes) full of dense, crusty rock and roll.
Ichabod has a killer sound: similar to that of EHG with hints of vintage Monstermagnet - Chalk that one up to engineer/recorder extraordinaire Steve Austin, the man responsible for the psychotic heaviness of Today Is the Day, and the brilliant recording of Cable’s “Never Trust A Gemini”. Austin has a real knack in bringing out the heaviness in a band: and with Ichabod, he has translated their sound to disc superbly, giving it a truly menacing ambience.
“Inglorious” is a force right from the start, with its crisp, metallic guitar high in the mix, and the wide ranging vocals of Ken MacKay that initially hit me with a Tool/Sabians flavour due to his scream/whisper style - but they definitely move beyond that pigeonhole as the disc progresses. Check out “Escape the Lie”… its violent fuzz and distorted vocals are worthy to be held in the ranks of 25….Tab.
The cool thing about Ichabod is their diverse sound. “Face Down Riverbed Blues” still has Austin’s trademark abrasive guitar and drum production, but on this one we get to hear the chunky blues-doom that these guys can crank out, while “500 Miles Behind” has a swirling, screaming stop/start groove that earns my pick as the showstopper on this disc. “Break Her Neck…” is another great example of Ichabod’s diversity, incorporating the sitar and some of Austin’s all-pro studio effects into the bands impressive mix of groove, metal and sludge.
This is one of the heavier discs that I’ve come across this year (Warning – definitely not for the weak!) Lots of mp3’s on their website, check them out.
Nick Muc
www.stonerrockchick.com
I have to say this CD rocks! Right from the first tune “Inglorious” to the last “Break Her Neck Before She Breaks Your Heart,” you can feel the passion and intensity Ichabod brings to the table. The first time I listened to “Let the Bad Times Roll” was after seeing the guys live, and the CD definitely sells it. Most might say the songs are really long, but just think of late night and you’re kicking back - 4:20 - throw in this CD and you’re in heaven. Ichabod’s music has the melodies you need and the heaviness you feel. I really enjoyed the trippy artwork, too! This CD in my opinion is worth taking a listen to.Check it out for yourself at the web address above.
- Metal Wench
www.soundcheckmag.net
Hailing from the eastern part of my home state, Massachusetts, I present to you: Ichabod. If you’re into pummeling stoner rock, this is a band you should check out. Nothing else needs to be said. Read on to find out more.
Screaming vocals and sludgy, crusty punk metal hammer upon you at the start of "Inglorious". It slows down and trudges along in its’ sludgy groove as Ken M’s vocals are sung with feeling. It eventually gets heavier as lightning rod guitar riffs and screaming vocals hammer you in that sludgy groove. Then, it gets mellow with acoustic strumming and vocals that are sung with feeling. Not a bad song, but it’s too long and drawn out. There are too many style changes within one song. If they stuck with one or two styles within the song, this would be a lot better. "Escape the Lie" is an audio acid trip. It slowly builds up as weird noises and plodding music lead in. Processed vocals join the mix, certainly adding to the weirdness. The music gets more energetic and the vocals lose their muddiness. It eventually slows down into a fat stoner groove, plodding along as Iverson’s guitar sears and Phil’s drums thump in your ears. Again, a decent song that could be better without the extra elements.
"Face Down Riverbed Blues" begins with some nice harmonica work, then a plodding groove and grating guitar riffs take over. The vocals are laid back, as the song continues on like this for a long time. Slow and gritty, it plods along but is done in a way that keeps you hooked. "Ceramic Bulldog" begins quickly with screaming vocals. It’s fast paced, crusty punk metal that is brimming with anger & energy. The guitar sears and the rhythm section throbs and they all go off. The vocals are wild and are all over the place, fitting the song’s mood like a glove.
"500 Miles Behind" slowly begins, soon picking up the pace as the stoner rock catches fire with burning guitar riffage and echoing vocals. Mellow and subdued, it’s kind of boring, like you’re waiting for something that isn’t going to happen. There just isn’t enough energy to it to make it worthwhile. "Break Her Neck Before She Breaks Your Heart" is certainly one of the best song titles you’ll ever hear. Weird chording (maybe from a foreign instrument?) and an obscure soundbite begin the track. Iverson’s low, grating guitar begins, then they bust out into full-on crusty punk. Fast paced and like a bolt of lightning, it has a good feel to it. Half-sung/half-screamed vocals help it thunder along before it eventually slows down and picks up more of a stoner vibe. It fades out at the end, finishing off with more of the weird chording that started the track.
All in all, this isn’t a bad CD. Ichabod is a decent stoner band when they don’t change styles constantly.
Pit Grade: 6.5 out of 10, If you like stoner music, this could be a good fit for your collection.
Recommended Tracks: "Face Down Riverbed Blues", "Ceramic Bulldog"
Matt
ICHABOD
Let the Bad Times Roll
(Root Sucker/Black Locust)
Rising from the ashes of several Massachusetts combos, the Lowell-based Ichabod wants to put heavy rock through its paces on its debut CD Let the Bad Times Roll. Call the band stoner rock, or space thrash, or psychedelic metal-any and all of these are appropriate at one time or another. Guitarist Dave Iverson whips out the fuzz-encrusted riffs like there's no tomorrow, garnishing his pile of feedback and angry distortion with driller-killer solos. Drummer Phil MacKay and bassist Ken Joyner wrangle the groove this way and that, making the transitions from quick and deadly to slow and dangerous with little effort. Singer Ken MacKay moves easily from tremolo-enhanced crooning to a wide-eyed mumble to a vein-popping shriek, more often than not within the same song. Cuts like "Face Down Riverbed Blues," "500 Miles Behind" and the damn near apocalyptic "World Without End/Pig's Mask" show a strain of personal paranoia and universal persecution that's a good fit with the six-string compost and screaming moans that characterize Ichabod's adventures. And let's not forget the frequent appearance of a sitar. Various strains of heavy rock meld together into one massive weight here, which is what Ichabod is all about.
For fans of: High On Fire, Down, Sofa King Killer
Michael Toland
ICHABOD Let The Bad Times Roll 2002
Black Locust Entertainment / Root Sucker Records
May 1st 2003
[ in Ukranian - see site below for actual review. -webmaster]
by Zhmen
(por Demon Cleaner) Sofocante. Perturbador. Oscuro... tal es el comienzo de este disco. Calmo y apacible... tan sólo un minuto más tarde. Esta sensación maníaco-depresiva arremete durante los casi 54 minutos que dura la placa. "Let the bad Times Roll" fue producido por Steve Austin (Today is the Day), y algo de esto se pone en evidencia al escuchar las composiciones de este disco... además de haber crecido en una ciudad marcada por un paisaje de industrias abandonadas y edificios derruidos, que les provee de todo un trasfondo marginal y melancólico que se refleja en el sonido de la banda. Hay una inspiración que excede lo estrictamente musical. Al levantar el CD de su estuche, podés leer un poema llamado "Ichabod" de John Greenleaf Whittier -un poeta norteamericano que vivió en el 1800- que resulta muy oscuro: "Cuando la fe se pierde, cuando el honor perece / el hombre está muerto!". Ya sabemos de donde surgió el nombre de la banda, el arte, la imagen, la forma de escribir las letras y todo lo demás. La música de Ichabod es difícil de clasificar, de acomodar en un género específico. Puedo decir: "esto es stoner? Sin dudas es rock pesado", pero no alcanza. Suena muy extremo. Otras veces es noise, doom, psicodélico, o bien más punk o alternativo. Hay una superposición de elementos disidentes, que a veces logran mezclarse bien y otras, simplemente estallan, chocando unos contra otros. Esto es: voces podridas, chillidos, gritos perturbadores y voces melodiosas; guitarras saturadas y limpias; melodía y antimelodía; samplers, cítaras, armónicas, coros femeninos. Cuesta digerir estas 8 canciones -ninguna baja del promedio de los 6 minutos de duración- de entrada, pero una vez que les agarrás la mano, no hay forma de escapar a esta sensación de claustrofobia que impregnan: "Esto nunca termina. Como un perro herido que perdió su camino", dicen. Dejar correr los malos tiempos, perseguir esa pequeńa luz de esperanza al final del camino... esa es la idea. Mi veredicto: 3,5/5 - Para aquellos que escuchan noise y música extrema y quieran adentrarse en el stoner. Para quellos que escuchan stoner y quieran adentrarse en el noise y música extrema. (sí, le pongo puntaje a los discos, y qué? ah, ya sé... seguro que por esto no me dejan a entrar al Valhalla!) --------------------------------------------------------------- En la vena de No encuentro una banda en especial que se le parezca en algo, pero podría decir que si mezclarámos el paisaje industrial abandonado de la ribera del "Riachuelo" con un relato siniestro de "Edgar Allan Poe" mientras te martillás los dedos, obtendrías una sensación similar que al escuchar esta música. (*) Aclaración para ortodoxos: "En la vena de" no significa que la banda sea igual, es sólo un referente, estamos??
bostonlocalmusicscene.com
LIVING THROUGH THE END (self released) - TOP
[Aug. 2002] "Induced by drugs and raw emotion is a four-piece from the filthy backwoods of Lowell, Massachusetts [the town that gave us beat novelist Jack Kerouac--Mike G] known as Ichabod. Their full-length CD, Living Through the End, is a refreshing, twisted, spastic conglomeration of lunacy. Without pigeonholing them, Ichabod does cover the gamut of the stoner rock umbrella. The blended fuzz-guitar tones invoke The Melvins and Karma To Burn with some parts upbeat hardcore and others in the vein of Monster Magnet's space-travel shapings. The vocals blend predominantly harsh screamy parts with an equal amount of low-end growls, anquished clean vox and layered spoken breaks. Multiple vocal tracks pile on top of one another much for effect. The portrayal of emotions remind of "River Runs Red"-era Life of Agony and Mike Patton. Think Quicksand smashed with Converge or Tool. This band is a prime example of what a new band should strive for: create something new and quality. Thundering drums and an ear-raping mix of harsh guitar and low-end bass tones hold killer technical changes and keep it flowing adequately. The production renders the sound magnificent. It was recorded by Today Is The Day frontman Steve Austin, so you get the drift; chaotic crunch and soul-scathing pitches mixed with a few weird samples for good measure. Ihabod busts yer head wide the fuck open and picks at every corner of your musical mind, leaving you stunned and intrigued in the end. I raise the glass to these guys and hope to see them on tour some time soon..."
- Dave Brenner, Metal Maniacs, Aug. 2002
www.metalmaniacs.com
"Eclectic, insane, noisy. Different and challenging...It's all good, and the songs are also."
- Metal Union fanzine
"Crust? Space? Hardcore? Rock? This MA band blurs the lines..."
- Warhorse Website
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