BORN DEAD ICONS

I mentioned Born Dead Icons in my post on the members last project Complications (see HERE ) so i thought it was time for a  post on them! Born Dead Icons were a Canadian band who existed from 1999 to 2003 and were one of the best and most original bands to come out of the "crust" punk scene I actually hesitate to call them crust because they had quite an original sound, Debut album "Work" contained re-recordings of their debut EP "A Part Of Something Larger Than Ourselves" & songs from their demo plus a few new songs with much better production than those releases (I haven't uploaded "A Part..." EP as the production is terrible quality even the band were very unhappy with it and the re-recordings on "Work" are far superior) The album is just great rarely going above mid paced there's hints at all their influences on there touches of Amebix, Motorhead,Nausea etc with a thick and heavy production which really brings their sound together, whilst there are hints of other bands they really do have their own sound adding some unusual melodies to the powerful heavy sound they have and their vocalist has a unique style with his French Candian accent which also made them stand out.

So after purchasing the amazing "Work" album i was desperate for more Born Dead Icons so couldn't wait for a second album in the meantime they released the excellent "Modern Plague" EP 4 tracks of Born Dead Icons sound albeit maybe a bit cleaner sounding,one of which was a great cover of the excellent Wipers track "Doomtown". So at this time 2002 there was not so much easy internet access like there is now but one of my friends went to the US on tour with his band and came back with a copy of their 2nd album "Salvation On The Knees" which i had no idea was even out and I could not wait to snatch it off him and copy it which i did however I was initially dissapointed, even though the "Modern Plague" EP had hinted at a bit of a change in sound, the thick heavy sound of "Work" had been replaced with a much less distorted and much "lighter"guitar sound and the melodies had come more to the fore rather than the brutal riffage of the 1st album also the vocals had become a bit more pronounced and less growled (whilst still havuing the unique style) and overall i felt it had more of a "classic" American hardcore influence (think early Agent Orange, Adolescents,Wipers early Husker Du etc mixed in with the crust sound) anyway it took me a while to get into this album because i had loved the heavy sound of the debut album but I now see it for the utterly classic and original piece of music it is, they are no less heavy or chunky in their riffing style it's just that the guitars are cleaner and there is more melody and less ridin the "E" chord and they have obviously developed as musicians in the interim between albums as bands do with touring and practice I was just being a stubborn pigheaded crust fan at the time and wanted them to stay the same!!!

Third and final album "Ruins" was a bit of a surprise when i heard it because I had expected them to continue to become more melodic however "Ruins" whilst obviously even more musically accomplished than "Salvation..." combines the heaviness of the first album with the melody and musicianship of the second making for a refreshing and amazing listen, there are even more melodious parts on this album than the previous but the vocal style and production have got a little dirtier again leaning more towards the sound of the 1st album. however the short instrumental title track even reminds me of the melodies of good "77" era punk albeit much heavier! This really is the perfect combination of the 2 preceding albums and is a fitting end to a guttingly short history!

So your links, Firstly you get "New Scream Industry" ripped from my 10" vinyl this is the vinyl version of their first demo it's fairly decent quality for a demo and actually way better quality than the debut 7" . "Part of Something..." I mentioned before and contains 2 tracks not re-recorded for "Work" . I've then given you the three albums mentioned above and also the "Modren Plague" EP the first 2 albums are ripped from my own CD's at 320kbps the "Modern Plague" EP is at 320kbps but is ripped from vinyl it is VERY good quality though. "Ruins" I don't own on CD but the file is taken from a decent vinyl rip.

This is not a discography as unfortunately they did a split EP with a band called Coma in 2002 and another EP called "Unlearn" in 2003 but unfortunately I had no record player by then so I've never heard or owned them and they are unavailable for download anywhere! and i also haven't put up their debut EP because it's atrocious quality as i said above! But there's enough B.D.I. here to keep you happy!

WORK - Mediafire

MODERN PLAGUE - Mediafire

RUINS - Mediafire

DEMO 10" - Mediafire

SALVATION - Mediafire