Frozen Soul – Glacial Domination
Century Media Records
Release Date: 19/05/2023
Running Time: 42:00
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
Icy Texan Death Metal bastards Frozen Soul made quite the splash with their grizzly debut “Crypt of Ice”, riding the crest of the new wave of Old School Death Metal bands alongside the likes of Undeath and Sanguisugabogg. They brought back the grimy production of old and eliminated a lot of the ‘Core and Tech elements, replacing them with big old grooves and a sense of fun. Remember when Death Metal was fun? It’s supposed to be fun you silly goose! Despite ticking my boxes on a base level, their debut didn’t really blow my skirt up like it did for a lot of fans. I found it a little lacking in hooks and variety compared to some of their peers, but overall I thought it was aight. “Glacial Dominion”, however, is a whole different story- I bloody love this thing!
This record is a massive step up in variety, songcraft and big nasty hooks while retaining the filthy sound of its predecessor. I don’t know if it was anything to do with having Trivium’s Matt Heafy on co-production duties, or just the band’s natural evolution but, this is one of the best damn Death Metal albums I’ve heard all year. The John Carpenter synths that lead into ‘Invisible Tormenter’ are the first of many surprises as the band kicks into a gleefully chunky opener with riffs that put hairs on your chest and mosh sections that take years off your life!
Killer, catchy riffs are thrown out with casual abandon, all benefiting from a slightly clearer production that still sounds like it’s had a bit of shit rubbed on it. In a good way if you can imagine such a thing. In the eponymous ‘Frozen Soul’ the band capture the lurching intensity of “Heartwork”-era Carcass while providing the living definition of bringing the riff back but slower. The changing tempos on this one feel like being thrashed around on Arctic waves and waiting to hit your ship to capsize. Then getting eaten by a leopard seal.
Vocalist Chad Green sounds like he’s having an absolute blast throughout, adding a bit more variety to his rotten bark and even finding space for huge shout along sections, such as absolute rager “Arsenal of War”, which is so massive that it’s almost unfashionable that it came from the same band that was making a more meat and potatoes racket in 2020. It’s really difficult to write vocal hooks when you don’t have melody to fall back on, but I’ll be damned if I haven’t been roaring the main hook from the Yeti floor-filler ‘Abominable’ ever since this hit my inbox.
The aforementioned mountain monster rager also contains one of the many fantastic shredding solos that litter the album. They sound more like classic Thrash leads than sweep-picking technical wankery, which really makes them pop over the low-slung chugging evil that provides the backbone of these frosty audio assaults. Add to this a rhythm section that knows when to go for broke and when to lay back and ride a stinky groove and you’ve got the full package.
With a wall to wall collection of evil, joyously savage old school bops with a modern twist, Frozen Soul have levelled up big style and turned in an album that makes me want to pull my own head off and boot it into orbit. It absolutely slams and these songs are destined to pack out both mosh pits and medical tents on festivals the world over this summer. Stay frosty, mates!
‘Glacial Domination’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Invisible Tormentor
02. Arsenal Of War
03. Death And Glory
04. Morbid Effigy
05. Annihilation
06. Glacial Domination
07. Frozen Soul
08. Assimilator
09. Best Served Cold
10. Abominable
11. Atomic Winter
LINE-UP:
Chad Green – vocals
Michael Munday – guitars
Chris Bonner – guitars
Samantha Mobley – bass
Matt Dennard – drums
LINKS:
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