There’s something so refreshing about Frozen Soul. Much like their labelmates Sanguisugabogg, they’re direct with their influences, and develop a sound that’s genuine in its approach. The hardcore bent gives a little added flavor, but overall its just four people absolutely wrecking shit every chance they get.
Along the lines of Sanguisugabogg, Gatecreeper, and Gruesome, Frozen Soul wear their influences on their sleeves shamelessly. While many revival acts can approach a certain scene or genre with a new take, or adding a heavy dose of irony/comedy, this new scene of OSDM up and comers act like the scene never died. It’s amazing how much Glacial Domination sounds like it’s been recorded in 1988 (in all the best ways), and feels like a time capsule, yet still balances a fresh take on what death metal can be in a crowded field of infinite subgenres.
There’s nothing melodic about their approach. Everything feels like a gut punch, or a sledgehammer just absolutely devastating whatever it’s hammering away at. The guitars throughout feel heavier than fuck, and the percussion’s threatening aura slaps every chance it can get. I’d love to hear more bass in the mix, as I’m not sure what happened, or if it was intentional, and I’m hoping in a live setting that is a moot point. Definitely not anything to hold against them, as each track on here proves why Frozen Soul deserves as much attention as they can get.
“Invisible Tormentor” opens shit up effectively highlighting everything we love about this band. The growls are more pronounced, the breakdowns fluctuate from dense pummeling downtempo upper cuts to galloping frenzy while the drums contain the chaos, and keep it aggressively on track. The Schuldiner-esque solo is just a chef’s kiss of death metal glory that wasn’t even necessary, but gives this track added oomph. Elsewhere “Death and Glory” harken back to the ages when there were no fucking frills in death metal. This track repeated slap pummels anything in its way, with an indebted yet cathartic nod to the Florida scene that birthed the genre, and the time shift to midtempo halfway through just absolutely engulfs itself in revitalizing that sound.
Glacial Domination‘s title track is also the funnest track out of the 11, and comes with the help of none other than Matt Heafy. Which is a welcome surprise to someone who absolutely ignores Trivium, but it also makes sense knowing how educated and devout Heafy is in his metal history, and love for heavy music. Heafy co-wrote with the band, and gave it a catchier chorus than you’d expect out of Frozen Soul thus far. His solo is spectacular, which isn’t a surprise at all. That chorus is such an earworm we should all collectively be belting it out every time we’re doing whatever dumb shit we do in honor of destruction on a daily basis. The video is also an absolute winner, which includes a fucking caveman absolutely giving it to some space dork that had the audacity of landing on his fucking planet. As someone who’s currently in their caveman era, I wholly welcome this carnage. This track is just absolutely fucking fun from end to end, and it shows both growth, and a willingness to explore and expand their sound yet also keeps it within the parameters of just absolute fucking brutal death metal. It’s a goddamn treat.
Heafy shows up again on “Abominable”, and that track is another rager from end to end. The harkening back to the Floridian gods of death is prevalent, as the guitarwork stomps like giants. With two stellar tracks under their belt, I’m begging Heafy and this quintet to give us more in the form of a supergroup. At least one album, because whatever the fuck they’re doing just works, and that’s success you can’t really formulate, but just let it happen.
Gost shows up for two tracks on “Frozen Soul” and “Assimilator”. For anyone unfamiliar, Gost is a rising darling in the synthwave scene who, much like Heafy, doesn’t hide his adoration for heavy music. His synth additions give solid contrast, not unlike TV Crimes and Fulci on the stellar Exhumed Information. It’s a decent addition that gives a new layer of texture for Frozen Soul to explore on future releases. Hell, maybe he too can join the supergroup I’m forming in my head, because beyond the bass getting lost in the mix, everything about this album just works.
Us Texans don’t care about facts, so I’m not really reading much into Frozen Soul forming in 2018, and would rather proclaim Frozen Soul being the best damn thing that came out of our Snowpacalypse of 2020. Our politics are shit, the state is overcrowded, and everyone that moved here seem to have brought their shit attitude along with them leaving a gaping hole devoid of good humanness and empathy; however, along with all these growing pains we have one of the most exciting burgeoning metal scenes to date. Creeping Death, Mammoth Grinder, Tribal Gaze, Fleshrot, Fugitive, I AM, and Universally Estranged are all absolutely stellar acts doing everything they can to bring a passionate resurgence to a much needed scene. On top of all that, is Frozen Soul, though. With their brutal gut punches, simple premise, and rapid yeti ferocity, they’re absolutely injecting an unignorable vitality that is invigorating as much as it is devastating.
