Friday 12 July 2024

Икар - \\\\\\


Labels: Self-Released/Polar Summer

Formats: Tape/Digital

Release Date: 24 Jun 2016


Tracklist:


1. Рождение Трагедий

2. Нашему Несчастью

3. Ветра Потерь

4. Он Звал, А Мы Стояли На Месте

5. Ревущие Деревья Ждут, Когда Мы Вернемся

6. Последняя


They say that a change is as good as a rest and this week has proven that to be true. So much so that I'm full of energy again and my head is surprisingly clear. To celebrate, I thought I'd indulge in some obscure Belarussian emo in the form of Икар. Their only album \\\\\\ was released in 2016 via Polar Summer on a pressing of 30 tapes, while the band also self-released it digitally. Oddly, the Polar Summer release contained thirteen songs (according to their bandcamp page), seven of which are not available to stream or download digitally. There must be a reason why so if anybody knows. please drop me a line.


I started a new job this week, which is the reason for my sudden burst of energy/excitement. Belarussian band Икар was another name that Polar Summer shed light on from Eastern Europe and on album opener ‘Рождение Трагедий’ it’s obvious why. Their explosive screamo/emo-violence hits with such immediacy that it’s hard to appreciate the musicality right away. Икар manages to weave a ton of melody and even rousing gang vocals into the mix later on for good measure. 


‘Нашему Несчастью’ is a super short follow-up to what was a very expansive opener. Less than forty seconds of intense percussion and rabid screaming, punctuated by guitar work that’s strong and quite technical as well. I’ll apologise now for not attempting to translate the song titles here (mainly because Google Translate cannot be trusted to translate things correctly). ‘Ветра Потерь’ follows with a slightly more brooding atmosphere although ultimately chaos ensues once again for about sixty seconds, ending with a thirty-ish second passage of introspection from Икар.


As has been the case so far for the majority of this album (or EP depending on how you interpret it), those songs bookended by the opener and closer have proven to be more urgent in delivery. That’s definitely the case with ‘Он Звал, А Мы Стояли На Месте’, which is a bizarre mix of off-kilter instrumentation and throat-scraping vocals. It’s only really bizarre because the instrumentation could sit more comfortably in the art-rock/art-punk scene.


Penultimate song ‘Ревущие Деревья Ждут, Когда Мы Вернемся’ goes for the jugular again right from the off, except this time Икар’s emoviolence is punctuated by brilliantly delivered math-rock. It leads to the other bookend I was talking about earlier, ’Последняя’. It’s the longest song on the album and it starts off pensively before growing in heaviness very quickly. It stays on that trajectory until the final moments where it’s stripped back to sensitive guitar and spoken word.


It would have been great to have heard the other seven tracks that formed part of the tape release but even without them, this has been a joy to listen to. Икар really harnessed such an honest sound. Polar Summer helped to bring that sound to more ears with their tape release and honestly, they still deserve more attention now. 


You can stream and download these songs for free via Икар's bandcamp page below:-



Tape copies from Polar Summer are long sold out.


Polar Summer - https://polarxsummer.bandcamp.com/music

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