Review Summary: A very creative and fun experience
Icon for Hire is a very interesting band. From their roots as a pop punk trio, they took an electronic route, lost a band member, dropped guitar completely, then added them back for their new LP, The Reckoning. One thing is consistent though; they always spend hours upon hours writing out heartful lyrics. And that is definitely true for The Reckoning, a wild, but nonetheless memorable full length album.
Icon for Hire says that “'The Reckoning' isn't just about exploring all the dark and heavy pieces of ourselves, it's about embracing and accepting those pieces, and using them as weapons against the gatekeepers that hold us back, even when those gatekeepers are our own self-imposed limitations." This is the theme for all the lyrics in this album.
The Reckoning showcases a heavier side of Icon for Hire. Guitar riffs are present across every song, and don’t even have any flaws. This makes Icon for Hire look like a veteran hard rock band, which is not at all the case.
The use of interludes on this record is nothing but mind blowing. The Ascent opens The Reckoning, urging you to get excited and try to sing along on its following song. Fore is even more effective, setting up one of the record’s greatest tracks, Shadow. Interference, a good eight seconds of confusing notes, and riffs, all drowned into a staticy phone call like effect, may seem useless at first, but is actually ingenious. If Interference weren’t there, the next song would sound like a generic rock song that you’ve heard before. But it’s not. Gatekeepers (, the song that follows Interference,) is actually a really catchy and clever track, rendering it as a highlight.
The creativity in the lyrics is another notable feature. Take ‘Diseased’ for example (1, 2, 3, 4/ I declare we're done for/ 5, 6, 7, 8/ Who do we annihilate?) It is another thing that draws you into the music and makes you wanna relisten.
The Reckoning could possibly be Icon for Hire’s best release to date, quite surprisingly. Its creativity and skilled song crafting shine through; it is definitely worth a listen.
*advisory warning* In Diseased, Ariel sings “your empire doesn’t mean s*** to us”.
