Concrete Icon – Voracious Streams
Release Date: 20th January 2025
Label: Memento Mori
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Old School Death Metal.
FFO: Morbid Angel, Immolation, Monstrosity, Obituary, Sentenced, Paradise Lost, Deicide, Bloodbath, Montrosity.
Review By: Rick Farley
“Concrete Icon blend the viciousness of classic U.S. death metal with the melancholic gloom of their European counterparts, combing leads drenched in despondency and suffering with a more angular and punishing riff barrage, resulting in an atrocious entity that’s as quintessential as old school death metal can get, while exuding a personality that’s their very own.”
Honestly, that’s about the most perfect summary of this band as anyone could possibly write. This is dead on, so why even bother with my own inferior opening paragraph.
Formed in Turku, Finland, Concrete Icon has been an underground death metal force since 2007. Numerous lineup changes and lengthy periods of off time, the band has just now (January 20th, 2025) released their long overdue third full length album Voracious Streams via Memento Mori. A wicked slab of authentic old school death metal, hellbent on taking you back to when death metal still sounded dangerous. Thick, brutal filthy guitars, ripping melodic solos, chunky low end and drums that will cave your chest in. In short, straightforward gritty death metal with bulldozer intensity. This iteration of Concrete Icon is the best this band has ever sounded.
Voracious Streams spits, stomps, and squawks its way to near chainsaw toned guitars that will rip you to shreds. This is death metal for folks that want death metal the old-fashioned way, but with a dirt filled modern production that’s still pretty damn grimy. Unafraid to be exactly what it is, it gives the band the freedom to sound authentically old school without any outside influence to direct their path towards a particular style. Concrete Icon sounds like a band that is from the time period, it’s not forced or a trendy fake jumping on a bandwagon. This is pure, heavy, fun death metal the way it’s meant to be.
Tracks like Aberrant Tyrant hammer with a bouncy groove over relentless double bass, The Immolation style guitar expressions give this track a sense of maniacal chaos, while Rats in the Matrix kicks off with some eerie eighties synths before it erupts into crunchy Morbid Angel style territory. Crushing sinister riffs lead to thrashy brutality. The course growls terrify in a memorable chorus cadence that’s near impossible to not growl along with. The punishing title track Voracious Streams, with its unforgiving blast beats and constant bass drum attack, pound you senseless until your brain is mush and your bones are dust. The balance between brutishness and heavy groove keeps things interesting throughout the record, resulting in a highly satisfying headbang to destruction ratio. That’s a real thing. Keep easily breakable items away while listening to this record. You’ve been warned.
At a trim, give or take thirty-four minutes Voracious Streams doesn’t overstay its welcome, and because of its weighty chunkiness, and memorable songwriting, it feels like a complete record. One that you’ll probably press play a few times in a row, every time you jam this. Get this in your ears immediately.
(4 / 5)
