Iceburn

Incorporating elements of experimental rock, metal, jazz, and classical music, the eclectic sound of this Utah-based septet flows so seamlessly that it may take a few songs before you realize you've never heard anything quite like it. The band members' well-educated backgrounds (guitarist/vocalist Gentry Densley holds a B.A. in music, bassist Doug Wright played with a symphony orchestra, and drummer Dan Day studied at Berkley) are immediately apparent; if you didn't hear it in their intricately constructed compositions, the liner notes -- with quotes from lyrical inspirations W.B Yeats, Blake, and T.S. Eliot -- would give it away. But more important than education is the groove, and Iceburn Collective rocks in more ways than one, weaving harmony, dissonance, and monolithic guitar riffage to create a swirling symphony that's equal parts Glenn Branca, John Zorn's Masada, and Tortoise. The apex is "Sphinx," a 22-minute epic that ebbs and flows in dynamic waves of screeching guitars, squawking sax, and varying soundscape textures. An excellent find for the musically adventurous. ~ Bret Love, All Music Guide