ALBUM REVIEW: The Sleeping Eye – Iron Age

There are certain albums that are held dear by a few, but are criminally overlooked by many. One such album is The Sleeping Eye by the Texan, thrash/crossover band IRON AGE back in the year 2009. Now in 2019, on the tenth anniversary of its original release the band have decided to re-release this relatively hidden gem to the world through the record label 20 Buck Spin with the aim of bringing it to a completely new audience. The recording of the release itself has been seemingly untouched. However, the artwork has been completely redesigned to incorporate the band’s admiration of the works of H.P Lovecraft.

The album opens with the track Sleeping Eye Of The Watcher and sets about doing exactly what the band does best. The frantic riffs and furious drumming ensure that the album sets out to cause chaos from the very outset and still boasts the same high levels of energy that made it so appealing a decade ago. The vocals from Jason Tarpey are delivered with equal measures of bile and emotion and are tastefully dubbed in an echo effect that add a layer of melody to proceedings.

Although the band have not strayed too far from their CRO-MAGS inspired hardcore sound that was so apparent on their debut release Constant Struggle, this album appears to draw heavily from the band’s more metal influences with tracks such as Dispossessed and Burden Of Empire sounding as though they could have come straight out of the Bay Area in the mid to late 1980s with their high velocity riffs and technical prowess. The latter in particular sounds like prime era METALLICA with the guitars from Wade Allison and Chris Ulsh providing some of the highlights of the release with impressive solos and well executed lead runs as well as an incredibly well written outro section that changes rhythms in the same vein of what you can hear at the beginning of For Whom The Bell Tolls. A well placed hit of nostalgia.

The track A Younger Earth shows the boys shifting gears and performing with a real sense of swagger and attitude that is truly infectious. The pace is dropped considerably as the band hit the audience with heavily distorted, barrel-chested riffs and a water tight rhythmic section which once again harks back to the bay area style of the 80s. The vocals sore over the top brilliantly and toe the line between aggression and melody in the same way that you would have expected from someone such as Phil Anselmo back in the day, including some beautiful tone in the interlude section at the back end of the track.

The following track Arcana, Pt. 1 picks the pace back up and sees IRON AGE settle back into their comfort zone which is high paced, high energy thrash metal. This is one that is sure to send the circle pits in to a frenzy and also contains some of the best lead guitar work to feature on the album including a wonderfully well written harmonised package. The outro is a little drawn out, showing the band run through a few different rhythmic patterns which sound decent but offer nothing new or particularly engaging which is a shame for such a good track. It does however lead into the second instalment of the song Arcana Pt. 2 which is another well written, mid paced affair that sees the band leaning on the more hardcore side of their hybrid sound.

Album closer The Way Is Narrow is an ambitious near-eight minute opus that sees the band exploring almost everything under the metal banner from doom to thrash in stunning fashion. The opening section of the song is so filled to the brim with atmosphere and a real sense of grandeur to the point where you can’t help but wonder why they don’t try hand at this sort of style more often. The boys then fly off into another frantic thrash metal section before reverting back to the doom/sludge to close out arguable the finest piece of music that the band have ever mustered.

This album is a real hidden gem and shows just how full of potential and great ideas IRON AGE were back in the day. Hopefully now with proper backing, the group can bring The Sleeping Eye to a far greater audience and reach the heights that they rightfully deserve.

Rating: 8/10

The Sleeping Eye is out now via 20 Buck Spin.