Probably figuring they'd be too busy fighting for survival to discuss the matter after the fact, the members of Boston's Ichabod decided to record an album based on the end-world Mayan prophecy scheduled for 2012, a few years earlier -- just in case. In all seriousness, it seems that singer Ken Mackay, guitarist Dave Iverson, bassist Greg Dellaria, and drummer Phil Mackay felt the topic was epic enough for their fourth release, and their tenth anniversary as a band, and went all out in attempting to do it justice by composing five originals devoted to the mysterious Armageddon at hand, ripping through a ten-minute, marrow-boiling cover of Pink Floyd's "Nile Song," and even inviting guests like flautist Bonnie Rovics, vocalist Jen Bliss, and vocalist and Mayan scholar/artist Jason Berube, who contributed artwork to the ambitious project. But despite all this, typically wide-ranging songs like "Sleeping Giants" and "Gentlemen of the Choir" still clung to the band's primary musical stomping grounds; generally simmering into existence via gentle, space rock/prog vibes, before turning on the stoner metal turbines and then often devolving into leaden-paced sludgecore passages à la Eyehategod and Acid Bath, complete with agonized shrieks. Others, like the wah-wah-driven "Giving Up the Ghost" and the thundering title track (the centerpiece of a four-part suite) get right down to business with a vicious intent reminiscent of ‘90s Corrosion of Conformity and, in the latter's case, Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave." But were it not for the special effects/spoken word tracks ("New Year's Prayer," "2012 Outro") and an overarching concept tying all the songs together, 2012 (which is no 2112, if you catch our drift) might sink with little trace into the broader stoner/sludge mosh pit -- which would be really bad news if their predictions prove correct when this fateful year actually arrives. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia
