Who said supergroups were just for pop? Iconic is the latest frankensteinian creation of heavy rock production company Frontiers Music SRL, the same production team that gave 70’s guitar tapping enthusiasts collaborations like The End Machine, Sunbomb, and W.E.T. Their debut album, Second Skin, released on June 17th to fans who are already familiar with the band’s legendary members. 

Most notable in the lineup is drummer Tommy Aldridge, who boasts an astounding 50 years of experience in the industry and has played with my personal heroes, Ozzy Osbourne and Yngwie Malmsteen. He joins fellow Whitesnake bandmates Joel Hoekstra, whom fans will also recognize from the 2011 Eclipse Tour, and Marco Mendoza of The Dead Daisies, Thin Lizzy and its spinoff band Black Star Rider. Michael Sweet of Stryper contributes his unique guitar technique with the undeniably optimistic lyrical themes that I’ve come to associate with this musician. 

All of these rock aficionados have assembled under the experienced eye of producer Alessandro Del Vecchio to back a vocalist that I must admit, prior to hearing this album, I was unfamiliar with. Nathan James, compared to his bandmates, is relatively new to the scene, but he is by no means new. He touts a tour with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra followed by the debut of his first band, Inglorious. With his expansive vocal range and operatic vibrato mixed with a graveling tone reminiscent of the late Chris Cornell, he is the perfect frontman for this ensemble of legends.

Both the band name and the title of the album are almost too fitting for this guitar shredding supergroup. Its members and the distinct styles they bring to each song are inarguably iconic. James’ clear vocal influences from the god himself, Dio, combine perfectly with Hoekstra’s talents to create something new yet familiar. And with the resurgence of rock, due in part to the nostalgia wave that is currently flooding the media world, there is no better time than the present to reintroduce these iconic sounds with a modern twist. That twist is best found in the titular song, “Second Skin.” While songs depicting destiny are nothing new in the world of metal, the message has gotten an update. The power has been taken from the bells that tolled for Metallica and the albatross that haunted Iron Maiden’s Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and has been returned to the individual. The motif of Second Skin is self-empowerment and claiming control over one’s own fate. This theme, interspersed with love songs both tragic and hopeful, carries throughout the entire album. James’ vocals bring life to Sweet’s message that destiny is our second skin and that “our future will make us alive again.” 

As we sit at the precipice of global historic conjunctions, the empowering thought that we have the ability to write our future is the inspiring change that the genre is desperate for. To quote the album, “The world is getting crazy,” and as new generations discover heavy rock, either from their parents or from monster shows on Netflix, the legends that built it have a unique opportunity to rebrand it and to don a “second skin” while keeping the iconic tones that originally defined it. This album provides a glimpse at what that second skin will look like. 

Line Up:

Nathan James – Vocals

Michael Sweet – Guitars, Vocals

Joel Hoekstra – Guitars

Marco Mendoza – Bass

Tommy Aldridge – Drums 

Alessandro Del Vecchio – Keyboards, Backing Vocals

I’m Music Magazine Contributing Writer Kayleigh Rongey