Black Ice

Formed in 1999 by Stevenson Sedgwick and Sköt B, Black Ice currently feature the contributions of five artists. For their debut album, the group hammer forth a sound toying with the tribal nature of death rock and the experimental inclination of intense post-punk. "Elixer,” the most attention-grabbing track on the disc, is the perfect vehicle for the erratic riffs and convulsing vocals that characterise the band. The thrust-forward lyrics in "My Eyes Hurt,” however, seem quite amateurish at first, yet the attempt at producing something uniquely fanatical adds to the disc’s charm. Black Ice offer a great mix of creepy, slow-paced tracks with faster, more detached songs such as "Fingers,” the album’s closer. Overall, Terrible Birds is a shadowy and rich experience, proving this group to be another instance of intriguing dark music coming out of the San Francisco area.