Sound: “Iconoclast Part 1” cannot be called out for not delivering a punchy production. There's plenty of 'oomph' in all the right places on this album produced by Tue Madsen. Instrumentally, there's little to complain about, nor is there much that sticks out. We're not treated to guitars filtered through a kazoo pedal, if you were hoping for such weird antics. All is as one probably would expect with an album like this from a genre like this. A slightly bothersome feature of this album however is the constant overdubbing and doubling of the vocals. Nigh every scream (and that means almost every vocal line) is layered at least twice. I am in no way a champion for the “one take and no overdubbing”-approach, but doubling and layering up everything gives this album a fairly bland sound. I'm sure they thought it sounded good, but it doesn't improve the experience in any way. It's rather tiresome, in fact. However, overall it's a pretty solid production which receives a passing grade. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: Here's perhaps where “Iconoclast Part 1” differs from what you'd expect. Notice the “Part 1”-bit. According to the band (I'm copying this from one of their press releases) the story “works on two levels: each song tells a story that is rooted in reality. However, all songs are linked with an overall story about a cast of warriors called 'Iconoclasts'”. What these warriors are or what they do, the band themselves won't say, as there apparently will be a second and maybe a third album about these Iconoclasts. As far as figuring out the plot, I haven't gotten that far, partially because the constantly doubled vocals tend to mud the words up. The boys should be given a round of applause for trying to inject such a thing as a conceptual piece into a genre that lyrically somewhat stale these days. // 6
Impression: The melodic death/thrash genre with a sprinkle of hardcore on top is pretty much overdosing on itself these days, and I'm afraid HSB can't be credited with injecting life into the genre, at least not musically. “Iconoclast” is, for what it's worth, an OK effort. If you like your Neaeras, Black Dahlia Murders, Calibans and various other bands sounding alike, then you'll probably dig this. However -- the album is almost an hour long. It by far outstays its welcome. There're good tunes (like the great opener “Endzeit”) sprinkled out here and there along the way, but the flow is somewhat ruined by the songs sounding too much alike. As far as I'm concerned, in this genre you need to have have either a great riff or a great melody. Too many of the songs have none of the former and a mediocre of the latter. Major props will have to go out to the guys for putting in a discobeat during the first verse of “Murderers of the Murderers”. It's not often a band can make me laugh so much, without it being in a negative way what'soever. It's not a bad effort nor is it cringeworthy in any way, it just reflects the state of a genre and a sound that's already been beaten to death by bands who think if they beat a corpse hard enough, the twitching will make it seem more alive. // 4
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I'd say they go about destroying religious artifacts, seeing as that is the definition of iconoclasm.