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overview


Iceman is a unit (a term i admittedly don't understand the origin of in j-pop/rock, but you see it alot) comprised from 1996 of Daisuke Asakura, guitarist Kenichi Ito, and up until 2000, vocalist Michihiro Kuroda. (to me, Iceman sans Kuroda is just Mad Soldiers, another Asakura/Ito collaboration, but anyways...)

Their sound has a decidedly techno-by-way-of-pop/rock bent to it, driven by Asakura's keyboards (and guitar work) and Ito's guitars. All three have taken turns at doing vocals (and each has a distinctive voice), and while Ito's "Expander Drive Machine" really does kick some serious ass, I just love Kuroda's voice. ^.~

in 2000, Michihiro Kuroda split with Iceman to pursue a solo career. According to a post on his site from 2001, (and, admittedly, through babelfish and my own questionable interperative skills), Iceman's musical direction and his own had grown too far apart. He didn't think at that time that he'd ever be returning to the group. While his solo material is very different from Iceman's, I like it ALOT. Recommended: the Save Our Souls video from his site. (see the Red Gate page)

Daisuke Asakura, as always, continues to be involved with several projects (he recently released DecAde, a retrospective album, Disk 2 of which is entirely Iceman *_*), and you can find his work in the Gravitation TV series soundtrack, as well as TM Revolution's albums and others. ^.^v

According to Kenichi Ito's site, he's got some new solo stuff out as well, but I haven't been able to find any sample tracks anywhere yet. I'm looking forward to hearing it!! Ito is also featured as part of Mad Soldiers in the Gravitation soundtrack.


how in the world.....?


Did i end up as an Iceman fan? Believe it or not, by way of TM Revolution. A friend introduced me to his music by way of "Heart of Sword" on the Ruroni Kenshin soundtrack. ^^;;;;; Asakura is TMR's producer and often does his keyboards. About the same time, i ended up with a copy of B-Pass (a j-rock magazine), with an ad tucked in amongst everything else for... Iceman. Hm.

It wasn't until a couple of years later that i heard a clip on the Antinos site (looking up TMR stuff), of Iceman's "Wish Matrix" that i fell hard for the band. "Wish Matrix" remains possibly my favorite song. Ever. In any language.

Heck, i've even named fanfic characters after the band members. (in a WK/RK xover fic, appropritately titled, or not ^.~ "Heart of Sword" ^^;;)

Since j-rock/pop, by its very nature, seems to have a limited shelf-life, finding Iceman stuff now can be a bit of a challenge. i completely lucked out at Bookoff in NYC recently, and scored a copy of "DA's party" - a concert from August, 1999. It's not specifically an Iceman video, but it's mostly. ^.~ (and the rest isn't bad either)


discography


the information below is taken from the official site, and doesn't include members solo projects. i only own the Gate CDs, so, if there's anyone out there who reads this who has anything else on this list they'd like to sell to me, please let me know! samples of many of the tracks on their albums are available at the official site as well. ^.^v

Singles
1st Single: DARK HALF~TOUCH YOUR DARKNESS// ESDB 3698
2nd Single: BREATHLESS NIGHT SLIDER//ESDB 3714
3rd Single: Edge of the season//ESDB 3744
4th Single: FINAL PRAYER
6th Single: LOST COMPLEX
5th Single: 8<TRANSLATE THIS TITLE>//ESDB 3807

Album
1st Album: POWER SCALE//ESCB 1806
2nd Album: Digiryzm Mutation//ESCB 1881
3nd Album: GATE II//ARCJ 101
4th Album: GATE I//ARCJ 105
5th Album: gate out//ARCJ 110
6th Album: GATE // white //ARCJ 123

Video
O:OO-H ICEMAN//ESVU 458
V-SCALE 1//ESVU 466
LIVE SCALE 1997//ESVU 483
V-MUTATION//ESVU 496
Iceman Live MUTATION 1998//ESVU 506
CRAZY JET//ARVJ 31
GATE V//ARVJ 33
LIVE GATE 1999 ~Type Around at yoyogi daini~//ARVJ 36

DVD
LIVE SCALE 1997 Hyper Digitel//
ESBB 2001


Playstation

1998.3.26:
Digital PlayStage// ESPM 70001

CD-ROM
1997.10 :
Iceman CD-ROM <TRANSLATE THIS TITLE>


images


a limited collection of Iceman images to further your interest. ^.~

Iceman, circa 1997 B-Pass Magazine, Vol 3 1997    
     
     

 

(c) 2002 sacred cow productions/studio milk