Ice Ages is the brainchild of Richard Lederer an Austrian specialising in melancholic atmospherics and in the case of ‘Buried Silence’ “Melodic Industrial Darkwave”. This is actually the third album under the Ice Ages banner following 1997’s ‘Strike The Ground’ and ‘This Killing Emptiness’ in 2000.
Even taking into account other projects with which he has been involved Mr Lederer could hardly be referred to as prolific and the music on ‘Buried Silence’ would seem well matched to his apparent work rate! It’s slow, ponderous and relentlessly ominous. Layers of keyboards swirl around a rhythm track created by synthesizers. The effect is rather like a variety of pieces of sheet metal and an anvil being bashed with lump hammers. The vocals are highly processed resulting in a deathly rasp.
Overall one is put in mind of the sort of sounds which are usually associated with those clubs featured in thrillers set in post industrial Eastern Europe; the ones where pale faced un-dead mingle unnoticed with equally pale faced stoned Goths wearing Hell Raiser-esque long black leather coats. It’s all very gloomy and quite deliberately so. Lederer’s collaborator in the lyrics department, Grigoril Petrenko (and in one instance Lorenz Graf) has created a series of odes to death where life is a twisted cynical state full of betrayal and misery and death is the opportunity for peace, comfort to be found in a freezing grave (!) or power and revenge over those who wronged you in life.
Bleak, it’s all very very bleak and as Petrenko puts it himself in ‘Through The Mirror’ evoking “…wrecked and disgusting visions of life”. There are undoubtedly those who revel in such melancholy and find it a cathartic experience. Having endeavoured to discover if this is the case and if the world looks somehow brighter after immersing oneself in the depths of Richard Lederer’s vision, I have listened to ‘Buried Silence’ in one sitting many times now. The result on each occasion has been best described as “a drowsy numbness” accompanied by a vague feeling of emptiness. The composer may well take this as the ultimate compliment that his music has the ability to transport in this fashion and certainly it has to be said that it does have an effect.
It’s definitely not “bad” as such and has much to recommend it musically speaking … but it might not be the best CD to put on if your pet has just died though! May not appeal to Poison fans!