Modern Iconoclast

Exactly two years ago, I discovered Illidiance and was blown away by Damage Theory, but they haven't quite been able to recapture the same magic since. The single "Shockwave" came closest to melding their more modern, alt-metal temperament with the earlier cyber metal centrifuge, but everything else since has been somewhat wanting, all because it feels like it is trying too hard to sound like Ectomorph or something as opposed to letting the crazy electronics dictate tone like the on Damage Theory. Syrex's vocals have continued to improve technically, but the vocal lines themselves haven't been that great, including the one-off collaboration with Sympuls-e, "System Duality."

"Modern Iconoclast' is yet another digital single released to keep expectations high, but the fact that this is all the material Illidiance can muster is somewhat disconcerting. The song itself is solid, if unremarkable, feeling much like the lukewarm Deformity EP, eschewing the earlier cyber metal aesthetic somewhat in favor of slightly more standard melodic groove metal posturing. The song itself feels structurally similar to much of what came before it, but I expect more quality from this band's singles, like "Neon Rebels" and the aforementioned "Shockwave," which both include refrains that blow this song to cosmic dust. Not only that, there is little else that sticks out. The song follows many of the now-familiar Illidiance tropes, including gang shout-laden breakdowns, including cyclical chugging rhythms with electronic undergirding like on "New Millennium Crushers." Plus, the clean vocals on the refrain sound a bit shaky... I'm not sure exactly what to attribute this to but Syrex doesn't sound quite as sure of himself. It might just be the production.

So overall, this isn't amazing and certainly not up to the band's high caliber standard. They need to take a break from the endless touring cycle and get in the studio to record a full-length worthy of Damage Theory. If you take all of the singles released since then along with the Deformity EP you get a solid LP's worth of material, but spread out over several years and varying wildly in quality and vibe. I haven't given up on these Russians, but my patience is growing thin.