By day he is a professor, by night he is a heavy metal musician who sings of bacteria escaping from laboratories and alien abductions.

The Icecold Archbishop is the pseudonym of IU Associate professor of the School of Public Affairs and Environmental Sciences (SPEA) Flynn Picardal. His new album, The Sun Dies Too, is like a science experiment in its own right, mixing the chemicals of new wave and heavy metal; bizarre and alluring.

One of the finer songs on the album is “The Young Lieutenants,” that has a unique guitar riff as the driving hook. The sound is reminiscent of Devo, only with heavier guitars and little or no synthesizers. The verses have semi-tribal drum beats playing along with the new wave/punk-esque guitar and vocal rhythm. The chorus creeps up quickly and then explodes with the drums and guitar changing to a steadier pace.

“The Aces In My Deck” is more straightforward, hard rock and devoid of pop or new wave sounds. The driving force behind this piece is the riff-heavy guitar work that is reminiscent of early Ted Nugent with even a hint of Megadeth thrown in. The lyrics of the song are every bit as powerful as the force behind the guitar riffs. The song is about the deck of cards given to troops after 9/11 that showed the faces of the government’s “Most Wanted” list. According to a press release from the band, one sergeant said he had his own “Most Wanted” list. On it were Paul Bremer, Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush and Paul Wolfowitz — the four men that were running U.S. policy in Iraq. If “The Young Lieutenants” could be the catchy hit-like song of the album, “The Aces In My Deck” is the aggressive, in-your-face counter-punch.

The fusion of new wave and metal is continued with the two-parts new wave, one-part metal song “No Values.” This upbeat rocker provides another bright spot on the album with crunchy, muted guitars and a sugary Moog synthesizer. One of the potential influences on this song seems to be from ‘80s pop/rock power house The Cars, given the guitar and vocal sound.

There is never a shortage of hooks and memorable melodies on this release. The hooks themselves are usually accomplished through layers of synthesizers or all out guitar riffs. While there is a clear Devo influence on nearly every song, the Archbishop is not lacking in originality.

Those not used to music that resides far from the mainstream might be quick to write off The Sun Dies Too and not give it the multiple plays that it deserves. That would be a shame, as this CD is one that can attach itself to you much like the bacteria Icecold writes about – but it takes time.

Overall Score: 7.0/10.0