Ikarian- Phantom Minds

ARTIST: Ikarian
ALBUM: Phantom Minds
LABEL: Millennial Sun
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 10-28-07

Ikarian is the latest outing from James Allin, previously known for his work in atmospheric metal projects Visionaire and Century Sleeper (a collaborative project with My Silent Wake's Ian Arkley). Allin's modus operandi is to push the boundaries between ethereal and metal to their breaking points; this is depressive music, not violent, and you can't bang your head to it. Indeed, with their ponderous drumbeats and hollow, moaning vocals, "Under Sacred Waters" and "Crossed the Sun" resemble Lycia more than any of Allin's contemporaries in the metal scene. "Externalize" even brings in hints of classical music, with intricate finger-picking in the vein of Faith and The Muse opening up to cellos and synth atmosphere, although the demonic backing bellows are a cogent reminder of Ikarian's heavier influences. For more conventional metal fare, "Dark City" is one of this album's more energetic offerings, adding vampiric baritone vocals to doom-infused guitar heaviness, and title track "Phantom Minds" transitions from a Metallica-style finger-picked intro to heavy brooding metal in the vein of Type O Negative. What really makes this interesting is that without ever really abandoning the idea of metal, with Ikarian Allin has created a project equally appealing to fans of ethereal, darkwave, and thanks to the occasional Pink Floyd guitar solo, even progressive rock.

Visit James Allin online at www.myspace.com/ikarianband.