Hi everyone, Bigthony Nametano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Iceage album, For Love of Grace & the Hereafter.

Iceage are a Danish rock outfit. This is their 6th full-length album, one of my most anticipated records of the year, but I have been waiting for some kind of new album from this band for quite a long time. And in some ways I feel, or have felt, a little lonely in that desire.

Iceage, since they broke in the early 2010s, I feel like has continued to be one of the best-kept secrets in the rock underground. Not to say that the band doesn't have its share of fans, and you know, they've gotten quite a few glowing reviews over the years as well. But sometimes, for as good as I perceive Iceage and their music to be, occasionally it does feel like they are one of those critical darling groups who sometimes don't fully translate to the normal, regular music listener base.

And, you know, I understand why. The band's first two records, in my opinion, were some of the most dense and overpowering, suffocating noise rock that came out that decade.

And that genre, even when done well, is going to have like a very limited niche appeal. But then eventually the band would mature on their third full-length LP, Plowing Into the Field of Love, my favorite record from them. And this is an LP where not only the band kind of opened up their mixes and slowed down their sound just a bit more, they also began to structure their songs out quite a bit, embrace some gospel, blues, and country influences, and start writing these really kind of dejected and harrowing rock songs that had a dark power to them, similar to that of like a young Nick Cave.

But still, even with that record being the band's best received, most praised up until that point, they still maintained a very chaotic, loose performance and recording style that you know, isn't necessarily palatable, I think, to your average listener, or at the very least requires maybe a handful of listens to really make heads or tails of.

Because if there's anything that is true of Iceage's sound, regardless of what album you're listening to, the way they go about recording and presenting their music oftentimes I could see it not fully translating on an initial listen. Maybe a few drum hits are out of place, or maybe a guitar strumming pattern is a bit fast for the tempo. Maybe a note or a chord here is a little sour, a little out of key. And of course frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt puts a lot of stank on his vocal performances, too, in terms of these pained, expressive, over-the-top inflections that much of the time overtake and, maybe to some ears, betray a little bit the beauty in his many melody lines or even his lyrics.

Now, in a way, I think Ice Age tried to fix this problem, or at the very least cleaned their sound up a little bit on the 2018 record, Beyondless. Definitely the most straightforward the band has ever sounded on this record, and as somebody who really enjoyed the three albums previous to this one, this record of course was just, I don't know, kind of tame to my ears.

Because even if the band's sound, traditionally, is a little noisy, a little chaotic, there is an urgency and a fire to that sound that I think makes an Iceage record really exciting, generally. And that just wasn't quite the case on Beyondless. Then we have the follow-up to that in 2021, Seek Shelter, where I think the band's unruly energy began to seep back into their songs and into their performances. Maybe not always in a perfect way, given some of the ambition in the songwriting, but for the most part it was there and it was balanced.

Now, following this record, the band seemingly took a bit of a hiatus. Elias actually managed to drop a solo record which had some decent songs on it, a cool crossover with Dean Blunt too. But now they have finally returned with a new record full of songs here, apparently going back to the same studio where they recorded Plowing originally, to try to attain once again a more fiery and urgent approach to their recordings, and get a bit of that electrifying energy back.

And with For Love of Grace, it is definitely back. It's back in spades. There's no denying that. To the point where I am afraid once again that the band is sounding so loose and so all over the place that the average listener will not be able to appreciate what they're doing. But don't take this album as a mere retread of things the band has done in the past. There is an element to this album that I think makes it special compared to every record Iceage has done so far, and that's love.

Yeah, this album is hands down Iceage's most lovesick and peppy, happy-go-lucky release. Which is kinda weird, it feels strange to say that an Iceage album sounds vibey and positive and sweet.

But For Love of Grace actually is. It's just that as the band is dishing out choruses that are packed with la-la-las and doot-dos, more country vibes, some danceable grooves here and there too, they have basically seen fit to not clean up their act at all, and are delivering once again some of their messiest and most chaotic performances ever. The songs on this record are bursting at the seams, they are falling apart, barely together by the time any of these tracks reach the finish line, but the entire time everyone in the group is all smiles and feeling good as hell.

This is clear right on the opening track "Ember," which brings back some of those, like, country-rock vibes that I loved so much on earlier singles like "The Lord's Favorite," bringing that to a much more cheery end with poetic lyrics like "Yet so many times / you've ran for dear life / but I caught you like an ember / caught you like an ember falling / caught you like an ember falling down / I love you in an ominous way." Because while all over this record we are very much dealing with a love, Elias is kind of first to tell you and admit on these tracks it is a weird love. It's a weird one.

We hear more weirdly good vibes on the following "Match Head Girl," which opens opens up with these really noisy, all-over-the-place "doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo's." It's like an early 2000s dance party, dance punk rager, meant to get everybody feeling great, but it is just played as if half the band are too drunk to do it straight. After this, we have more amazing energy coming off of "The Weak," which is not only a rowdy, punky country rocker that reminds me of, like, some late-era Violent Femmes record, something along those lines, but the track has this needlessly noisy recorder, like, doubled up, disharmony solo that just adds to the hilarious chaos of the song. Plus, the "life is for the weak" refrains on the hook of this track just seared themselves into my head immediately.

The song "No Fear" sees the band dabbling in what feels kind of on the surface like some The Cure vibes. There are definitely some interesting switch-ups across the track toward the harmoniousness of the instrumentation turning warmer, brighter, or more discordant. I guess what bugs me most about the track, though, is that it feels like it's inching towards something that's like really catchy and anthemic toward the end, but it never really quite gets there.

"Salve for Every Sore" also kinda sidesteps doing anything overly catchy or commercial, but the nearly endless folk-flavored tension across this track feels so very obviously inspired by The Velvet Underground's "Black Angel's Death Song" and is pulled off relatively well, frankly.

Then "mother-of-pearl" is one of a few tracks on this record that, honestly, kinda feels like it's inspired by early '70s Rolling Stones. But of course, as prevalent as that influence is, there is no way with a mix and a recording this noisy and this grating that it's going to appeal to that same audience. Like, the punk vibes really do sort of overtake it, and I think it is to be appreciated primarily as a punk-inspired song. As catchy as the ending of the track is – "Mary, mary, mary, mary, mary, mary" – for a band whose catalog is so predominantly tortured and dark, with so little sunlight seeping in, this track just feels like a hug, even if the presentation is a little gnarly.

The following, "Tender Blades," kind of feels like a mid-2000s indie feel-good song of the summer, something along the lines of like Modest Mouse, but with again more Violent Femmes influence kind of seeping in on the vocal side, with Elias' lyrics making some of the most overt romantic statements on the entire record. "Would you lie for love? / Would you hide from love? / Would you go ahead and die for love? / Fantasize about us / Would you? / Oh, oh, oh / To blunder in vicinity of harm / Free the rope that binds the arms" and so on and so on.

Now, as far as ending of this record is concerned, it is a little bit of a mixed bag. While "Lifetime" is certainly a highlight for me here and has almost this, like, mid-'80s, bright power pop percussion quality to it that really gets me going — handily one of the most energetic tracks on this record — and there's a really slick post-punk energy coming off of the track "Holy Water" too, like, the guitars and drums really lock in on this one in a way that they are just not quite this tight on the rest of the record.

Simultaneously, there are moments where I feel like Iceage's messiness their controlled chaos, as it were, does get the better of them a little bit. I feel like this is especially the case for "1835" and "Star." The latter of these two was actually a single to this record.

But as much as I enjoy elements of these tracks, I can't help but think about how much better they could have gone over if the playing and recording were just a little bit tighter. Like, there are moments on that "1835" hook where it feels like the vocals and maybe something else in the mix is just coming in a little bit late. And even the transitions from the verses to the choruses on "Star" feel a little rough too.

And then we have the closing track, "True Blue," which is actually my least favorite cut on the record. And you know, you hate to see a weak closer. And while I do think there is something to this track at its core, the combination of Elias singing, I think, a little bit more out of his vocal range than he typically does, with the woozy slide guitar just sort of like wailing away constantly in the background— it's a deadly combination. And I mean that in a derogatory way.

With that being said though, I am for the most part glad to hear Iceage approaching with a record that sounds gutsy and like it's throwing some caution to the wind once again, and simultaneously packing into most of these tracks these really intense feelings of love and romance and infatuation in a way that we just haven't heard on any Iceage record previous to this. That and the band sort of embracing melodies and lyrics and chord progressions that are just a bit brighter and warmer and more pleasurable. Even if the surface-level presentation of these songs and these recordings is a little rough and a little muddy.

Because yeah, I will say, the mixes on these tracks? Not nearly as clear as the past two Iceage records, for sure. Especially Beyondless, which I think sounds crystal clear in comparison with this record. But I think a little clarity is a sacrifice that I personally am very much willing and ready to make for a band that sounds like they are really going for it on almost every track here. Which is why I'm feeling a decent to strong 8 on this album.

Anthony Fantano, Iceage, forever.