Iceburn, known later as the Iceburn Collective, was a

musical group Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the na ...

formed in 1991 in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, US, by guitarist/vocalist/composer

Gentry Densley Gentry Densely is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. A longtime fixture on Salt Lake City, Utah's punk, metal and experimental music scenes, Densely has been involved in numerous bands but is best known for leading the groups Iceburn, ...

, the sole constant member through multiple personnel changes. They were known for their unique style that combined elements of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, heavy metal,

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, and classical music. Releasing albums on

Revelation Records Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Shelt ...

and

Victory Records Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several record labels. It has featured many prominent artists including Thur ...

, Iceburn achieved little mainstream attention, but earned critical praise for their unusual music.

Band history

Their early output could be classified as

jazzcore Punk jazz is a genre of music that combines elements of jazz, especially improvisation, with the instrumentation and performance style of punk rock. The term was first used to describe James Chance and the Contortions' 1979 album ''Buy''. Punk ...

, blending the speed and energy of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier pu ...

and

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typi ...

with the intricacy of jazz and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

. For their first few years and albums, Iceburn were, for the most part, a classic "

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

" of guitar, bass guitar and drums. Around 1996, with the release of ''Meditavolutions'', a 70-minute continuous piece in the form of a musical

palindrome A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Panam ...

, the band began to go by the name the Iceburn Collective, to reflect the dynamic nature of the group's membership. The lineup expanded with a saxophonist, percussionist on

conga drums The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

, and a second guitarist. Critic Bret Love writes of the album, "the eclectic sound of this Utah-based septet flows so seamlessly that it may take a few songs before you realize you've never heard anything quite like it." The band gradually introduced more and more improvisation. By the time they disbanded in about 2000, Iceburn was a completely improvised

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

unit, featuring

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and other

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

s. Densley went on to participate in Ascend, a collaboration with Greg Anderson. Most of their albums featured artwork by Californian

Rich Jacobs Rich Jacobs (born 1972 in Long Beach, California) is an American artist and curator who currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Jacobs has exhibited in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In 2008, his work ''Minor ...

. Iceburn reunited for one concert in February 2007 to celebrate the 18th anniversary of ''Slug Mag'' (''Salt Lake Underground'', devoted to local music and arts), a longtime booster for Iceburn and Densely's music.

Discography

Albums

* ''Firon'' (1992),

* ''Hephaestus'' (1993),

* Iceburn/

Engine Kid An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

split cd/12" (1994), Revelation Records * ''

Poetry of Fire ''Poetry of Fire'' is the third album by Iceburn, released in 1995 through Revelation Records. Track listing The song "Stones" is a version of Miles Davis's "Milestones", and "Blues" is a version of his song "All Blues". The vinyl release d ...

'' (1994), Revelation Records * ''

Meditavolutions ''Meditavolutions'' is the fourth album by The Iceburn Collective, released on April 9, 1996, through Revelation Records. Track listing Personnel ;The Iceburn Collective * Gentry Densley – guitar, sitar, production, engineering *Ja ...

'' (1996), Revelation Records * ''

Polar Bear Suite Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates *Polar climate, the cli ...

'' (1997), Iceburn Records/Revelation Records * ''

Power of the Lion Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may ...

'' (1998), Iceburn Records/Revelation Records (Reissued on vinyl by

Southern Lord Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include a ...

in 2009) * ''Speed of Light Voice of Thunder'' (1999), Iceburn Records * ''Land of Wind and Ghosts'' (2000), Mountain Collective Records MTN-CIA *''Asclepius'' (2021), Southern Lord

Singles

* ''Burn'' b/w ''Fall'',

* ''Moon'' b/w ''Brew No. 9'',

Art Monk Construction Art Monk Construction was founded by Eric Astor and Garrett Rothman in State College, Pennsylvania in 1993.Jason Cherkis"Duo makes punk work, even here", ''The Daily Collegian'', Jan. 19, 1995 When Rothman left State College to study abroad, Astor ...

* ''Leos'' 12",

Lionhead Records Lionhead may refer to * Lionhead (goldfish), a variety of goldfish * Lionhead cichlid (''Steatocranus casuarius''), a fish * Lionhead rabbit, a breed of domestic rabbit * Lionhead Studios, a computer game development company * Lionhead Unit, a camp ...

* '' Zu/Iceburn - PhonoMetak 10" Series No. 1, Odin's Beard 10" split with Zu '' (2006), Wallace Records (Italy)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Utah American post-hardcore musical groups American avant-garde metal musical groups Victory Records artists Revelation Records artists Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in Utah