Canadian Ice

I know that I've talked a lot of shit on compilations. Generally, I've looked down on them, and have considered them to not really bring anything to the table for the long haul. Well, I'm starting to change my hardline stance on them. As I've recently been digging into the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene, as well as revisiting some early Metal Massacre comps, I've found myself quite enjoying these time capsules. With these metal compilations, there are quite a few bands that have been buried by time and dust, and in some cases, these comps are the only places that smaller bands had a song or two pressed to wax. Suddenly, I was looking at those old comps through rose colored nostalgia glasses, and I started to have a change of heart.

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about a new Canadian heavy metal comp on Temple Of Mystery Records, called Trapped Under Ice. The only band on this comp that I'd heard of was Freeways, and since I fucking loved their Cold Front EP so much, I really wanted this record...even if it was just to hear their new song. I'd been contemplating the purchase of Trapped Under Ice for a couple of months, but after downloading the Rocksnax and Lead Weight comps from the early 80's, I got caught up in the excitement and finally pulled the trigger.

Man, the gamble paid off, because this compilation is rock fucking solid. While I came for the Freeways track, I was absolutely surprised with how great bands like Traveler and Metalian sounded, and I found myself running to the internet to see what many of these other bands had available. Suddenly I'm excited about new metal bands!

The packaging for the Die Hard pressing is excellent. "Ice" colored vinyl with an OBI strip on the cover, plus a sheet of stickers with all the band's logos, and an exclusive fanzine.

This is a quality package, and I'm looking forward to digging into that fanzine and reading about each band.