Dew-Scented's ninth effort _Icarus_ sees a full line-up change from 2010's _Invocation_, with the exception of front man Leif Jensen. Guitarist Marvin Vriesde of Severe Torture fame is one of the new faces in this new Dew-Scented formation, and he did the majority of the writing on _Icarus_. The melodic intro track "Hubris" came as a bit of a surprise to me, since Dew-Scented albums don't really start that gradually, but that's what you get from introducing fresh blood into the group. The rest of the album mostly follows the same blueprint of its older brethren. "Thrown to the Lions" will throw you off with its vicious breakdown, while the guitar solos on "Sworn to Obey" and "Destined to Collapse" come very close to melting faces.

On the lyrical front, Leif Jensen uses the songs to convey some modern interpretations of the classical Icarus myth. The vocals are further enhanced with the addition of the legendary Dan Swanö as a guest vocalist on "Reawakening" and Rob Urianti from Sacrifice on the blistering "Gleaming Like Silver". It is also a track on which new drummer Koen Herfst adds some relentless drumming, but his best performance on _Icarus_ as far as I'm concerned is on "A Final Procession".

All these elements make it clear as to what we're dealing with here: another reliable album from a reliable name in the thrash metal world. On the face of it, it's not much different from the past four or five Dew-Scented albums; but when you dig deeper, you'll find some subtle signs of an evolving band. _Icarus_ is an enjoyable listen, but not a game changer by any means.