UMUR "Icarus" is the 9th full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Dew-Scented. The album was released through Prosthetic Records in the US and through Metal Blade Records in Europe in July 2012.

With now nine full-length studio releases under their belt, Dew-Scented are certainly what you can call an experienced act, which is also obvious when listening to the album. This is a band that know exactly what they are good at, and take full advantage of those strengths. They don´t deviate much from their signature thrash metal sound, but I guess at this point no one expects them to. We´re still talking neo thrash metal with a slight nod towards death metal in the vein of early The Haunted and Hatesphere. The material is generally well written, the musicianship is strong and the sound production powerful and professional. Apply check marks accordingly.

The music is aggressive with furious riffing, pounding drums and an aggressive vocalist that balance on the border of being raw and aggressive and semi-growling. The band understand the art of varying pace and also add melodic leads to the mix, so "Icarus" is entertaining throughout.

When all the positives have been mentioned I do need to state that I feel that "Icarus" lacks a bit of a musical identity. It´s been a slight issue throughout Dew-Scented´s career though, so it´s not like I´m surprised. They´ve reached a good quality level with their music, but I suspect they´ve hit the "roof" and won´t go much further than this (prove me wrong, please!). Fans of neo thrash metal should take a listen though. "Icarus" is certainly a quality release and well worth a listen. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.