Cadence of the Cursed

"Light the Bonfire" of Ice Howl's Furious Power Metal Blaze

Cadence of the Cursed

Hurtling out of ancient, frosty caverns with a piercing scream, Ice Howl rides the winds of fantasy, seeking to put the “power” back into “power metal” with an emphasis on boisterous energy and drive over all else. Wielding a power-meets-heavy-meets-stoner-metal blend that’s an easy sell for fans of The Sword and Manilla Road alike, the Indiana band will soon release a second full-length Cadence of the Cursed after four long years and a re-incarnation as a solo project. We’re streaming the track “Light the Bonfire” now.

Drawing inspiration from digital realms, every song on the album tackles a video game series — for anyone remotely familiar, it shouldn’t be too surprising that “Light the Bonfire” takes place in the weird, lore-packed world of Dark Souls. Taking the dire circumstances that plague the series’ humankind, Ice Howl flips the script into a glorious, magnetic ride replete with gauntleted riffs and hair-raising choruses that’s over all too soon. It may not be blazing fast, but the infectious pulse of the track generates as much adrenaline as beating a boss in the actual game does… only without all the stress and rage you normally accumulate in the process.

I’ve eagerly lapped up each Ice Howl release over the last few years — while every EP has pushed forward mastermind Jason Roach’s vision of power metal laced with the stopping power of the rest of heavy metal’s variants, the main draw for me has been the top-tier retro riffs they’re packed with.Cadence of the Cursed has these in spades, all mainline worthy, but as a whole there’s another appeal: the blazing passion behind this album is obvious, both for heavy metal and the subject matter, and every listen fuels your own kindling spark just a little bit more.

Cadence of the Cursed releases June 12th. Preorders available via Bandcamp.
Regarding “Light the Bonfire”, Jason says:

Cadence of the Cursed is my second album under the name Ice Howl. Ice Howl has always been fantasy-based, but I decided to take it a bit further and made every song on the album themed around a video game series. “Light the Bonfire” is one of the songs I didn’t expect to like as much as I do. The Dark Souls series is almost a shoo-in when it comes to metal. The idea that humanity has basically ended, but clutches to existence by a “somewhat” eternal flame is about as metal as you can get. The lore behind Dark Souls is extremely bleak and hopeless, and I wanted to portray something extremely dark into something melodic and catchy.

As far as the music goes, I wanted the tone to reflect what you’d find on my debut album (Crack the Earth), but have a little bit more edge to it. I’ve been developing my own style for years. I’ve always liked the idea of blending power metal with various other styles such as stoner rock, heavy metal, and even some hardcore/metalcore. I hope you dig it!

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