Review: Ice Age – Waves of Loss and Power

Style: prog rock, heavy prog, neo prog, prog metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Neal Morse, Dream Theater, IQ, Hallas
Review by: Andy
Country: United States-NY
Release date: 10 March, 2023

Fittingly, the first review after my Shadow Gallery discography project is another old Magna Carta band (now on Sensory Records), Ice Age, and their new album, Waves of Loss and Power. At one point, Magna Carta were on top of the heavy prog world, toting a full roster of bands in the liminal space between prog metal and prog rock. Ice Age definitely fit in with their contemporaries on the label. However, Waves of Loss and Power is a surprising album, not because every prog fan hasn’t heard something similar, but because it’s Ice Age’s first release in twenty-two years. This puts Tool’s paltry thirteen waiting for Fear Inoculum to shame; Native Construct have more than a decade left to reform without eclipsing this mark between releases; heck, the gap edges out Liquid Tension Experiment’s twenty-two by a few weeks. And Ice Age sound exactly the same as they did decades ago, like the band is a time capsule straight out of the 90s, frozen in 2001 and thawed out in 2023. 

This observation means that Waves of Loss and Power will be a nostalgia-fest for 90s heavy prog fans. Sounding like Magellan or Explorer’s Club, Ice Age groove forward with exciting instrumental leads–fueled by the prominent bass of Doug O’Dell–and the relatively low but theatrical vocals of Josh Pincus. When Pincus truly lets his voice soar atop it all, Ice Age excels, but occasionally his rich lower timbre makes the full product feel a tad lethargic. The band is neither as intricate as prime Shadow Gallery nor as heavy as classic Dream Theater, but they push what can be accomplished in between as extended neo-prog solo section after extended solo section make up the majority of each song–with practically only soaring choruses in between more virtuosic instrumentals. 

Nearly unilaterally, the strengths of Ice Age are in recapturing the magic of 90s prog in a way that no modern band has. “Riverflow” and “Perpetual Child, Pt. 2 (Forever)” slowly unveil their gargantuan lengths, thrilling me as I’m transported back to yesteryear in the time when I first discovered progressive metal. In both tracks, charmingly cheesy old prog lyrics, tight guitar leads, and playful piano bring a smile to my face–I just can’t help but enjoy some classic prog. 

Unfortunately, Ice Age have not matured much as songwriters since the 90s: the nostalgic blessing is also their most perilous plight. The more interesting sections don’t have quite the bite of a saber-toothed tiger like they should because–like the archetypal old prog stereotype–the extended soloing sections and extremely bloated track lengths wear down on my patience as a listener in 2023. To meander from idea to idea for fourteen minutes several times in one album is no longer cutting edge. When Ice Age do cut down on the superfluous lengths–such as on the back-to-back “All My Years” and “Float Away”–the tracks maintain the album’s pacing much better. Unlike the longer tracks, these shorter ones feel more memorable, too: “All My Years” has a chorus with vocal harmonies out of The Beatles’ playbook mixed with Kansas-y, classic prog rock instrumentation. 

By the time I get to the final movements of “To Say Goodbye,” the continuation of a suite from decades ago, I do feel like Ice Age has frozen their momentum from the shorter preceding tracks. Sure, the track is still cool, but yet another prog epic tagged on to an already overlong album stifles all the progress made in the shorter tracks. Had they trimmed off a few minutes here and there throughout the album, though, Waves of Loss and Power would be much more digestible, but the meat from the mammoth tracks is too tough to really chew on. 

One noticeable improvement Ice Age made in the past quarter century is a more crisp production. Waves of Loss and Power sounds superb from the bass and drums keeping the time-signatures interesting to the powerful vocals of Pincus. With a couple more modern improvements–remaining careful not to make enough changes to take away the nostalgia factor–Ice Age could release something truly special even within the current zeitgeist of prog, but even though Waves of Loss and Power isn’t that marbled final product, I’m glad the band didn’t ice us out forever. 

Recommended tracks: The Needle’s Eye, Riverflow, All My Years
You may also like: Magellan, Shadow Gallery, Cairo, Hourglass, Dali’s Dilemma, Explorer’s Club, Enchant
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Sensory Records – Bandcamp | Website

Ice Age is:
– Josh Pincus (vocals, keyboards)
– Jimmy Pappas (guitars)
– Doug O’Dell (bass)
– Hal Aponte (drums)