End of silence for Concrete Icon.
Still led by Jaakko “Jake” Peltonen (guitar/vocals, Furious Descent, ex-Cumbeast), and now completed by Markus “Makk” Rakkolainen (guitar), Andreas Kaarnimo (drums) and Henri Laine (bass), the band collaborate with Memento Mori, Fetzner Death Records and Redefining Darkness Records for the release of Voracious Streams, their third album.
We start with Slaves Of Hostile Dominion, a fairly solid composition where jerky abrasive riffs meet powerful vocal parts, but also rather dark and sometimes disturbing lead parts. The tempo accelerates with Aberrant Tyranny, giving the riffs rather imposing Brutal Death tones, but also allowing for dissonant tones in the slower passages, creating this interesting duality before Storm Of Denouncement strikes in its turn. The irregular approach is particularly effective with this aggressive mix, as it is on the mysterious Rats in The Matrix and its heady introduction, which eventually gives way to violence tinged at times by heavier passages and easily reminiscent of their Finnish touch. The vocals also become cryptic towards the end, then Inferior Almighty takes its place with more shrill tones in the leads, but an equally devastating rhythm and furious vociferations. Riffs barely have time to pause before From Wisdom To Carnage follows with a similar approach, sometimes a little more rhythmic, but with totally different tones in the leads, giving them that occult flavor. New strikes with Chaos Cult, which takes up the band’s familiar elements, namely the powerful base, but injects interesting melodies into the harmonics, then Voracious Streams brings the album to a close with its eponymous composition brimming with bestial screams and thick riffs.
Concrete Icon is the perfect example of a Finnish Death Metal band taking advantage of its virulent mix and Brutal Death influences to hit hard. The main drawback of Voracious Streams is that it’s a little short, but the album is easy to listen to over and over again.
85/100