Frozen Soul - Crypt of Ice

Century Media Records

The first big metal release of the year comes out of Fort Worth, Texas, as Frozen Soul release their debut album 'Crypt of Ice'. With a more traditional take on the Death Metal scene, Frozen Soul have created an album of relative ease to take in.

Crypt of Ice can be seen as skeletal Death Metal. Harking back to the genre's roots, stripped to the bare essentials necessary to make a work of great power and scope. Music stripped of all bells and whistles. Less is more, as they say. Crunchy riffs as thick as treacle, relentless drums that remind me greatly of Lara Ulrich's work with Metallica, make of that what you will, and decipherable growls from frontman Chad Green that tie in with the whole sub zero theme. You can feel the condensation oozing out of his throat. I say this happily as my experience with the more extreme side of metal has lead me down the road of wondering what exactly is being said lyric-wise. Some metal out there would have you wondering whether it's the reinvention of Morse code or something.

A more linear approach is taken on Crypt of Ice as the band gets from point A to B with little room for detour. Veering off isn't part of the equation. A couple ambient-like passages add atmosphere but that's as far as the experiments go.

If you like your metal straight and to the point, look no further. Frozen Soul have laid out a solid project front to back.

Favorite Track: Arctic Stranglehold