Ice - 1979 - Saga Of The Ice King

Ice

1979

Saga Of The Ice King

01. Early Days 3:09
02. The Ice King 3:18
03. Asgard 6:25
04. The Bridge 3:13
05. The Feast 2:59
06. Dawn / The Battle 5:00
07. Aftermath 0:55
08. Journey Into Exile 2:19
09. Reprise 2:41

Guitars – Andy Radek
Guitars – Paul Watts
Bass Guitar – Colin Richardson
Drums, Percussion – Steve Sheldon
Voice – Mick Rutherford

This British group is probably unknown to many, but it had a great live activity around the Staffordshire area back in late-70's.It was formed in early 1978 by five out of the six members of the disbanded act Willow, these were guitarists Andy Radek and Paul Watts, bassist Colin Richardson, drummer Steve Sheldon and singer/guitarist Mick Rutherford. After several gigs and press references Ice moved on to record their debut album ''Saga of the ice king'', inspired by the Ymir figure of the Icelandic mythology. It was recorded at the Curbough Sound Studios in Linchfield between October 78' and February 79' and it was released privately in 1979.A few guests appear on horns, cello and violin, while strings were provided by the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra.

''Saga of the ice king'' is a decent Psychedelic Rock album, pretty much outdated during the time of its release, but the basic reason of its obscurity was that the efforts of the group were actually buried by an unacceptable production and a bad sound quality. Ice played an emphatic Psychedelic Rock with progressive tendencies and plenty of harder overtones akin to mid-70's RUSH, while the album contains also some evident rural influences. This work is characterized by the nice collaboration between the guitarists, offering psychedelic textures with background solos and folky, acoustic soundscapes, leading eventually to a mass of changing climates, from hypnotic and pastoral lines to Hard Rock-oriented material with sharp electric themes. Sometimes the music tends to be very simplistic and rather uninspired, while the vocals could have sounded a lot better if they were not buried by the awful mix. Tracks are quite short with guitars in the forefront and lots of shifting tempos, but the flexibility of the album is almost zero.

Ice kept playing until 1982 with new drummer Paul Reeves. Rutherford went on to form Dickens, a short-lived Psych/Blues Rock band, and since mid-90's he has been performing with his own combo, the Mick Rutherford Band. Bassist Colin Richardson sadly passed away in 2006.

For fans of early RUSH and the likes, be aware of the questionable quality of the recordings. If you can get past that, Really enjoyable album that gets a couple of spins a year.