The USDM community has seen a renewed life in the past five years or so, with industry veterans releasing some of their freshest material yet and an entirely new wave of underground Death Metal acts, including the likes of Blood Incantation, Necrot, 200 Stab Wounds, Gatecreeper, Sanguisugabogg and Undeath, rising with critical acclaim. Frozen Soul have arguably found themselves pushed to the forefront of this New Wave of US Death Metal with live show clips going viral and having the opportunity to open shows for extreme metal legends Obituary, Napalm Death and a recent UK/EU run with Dying Fetus. Their debut album Crypt Of Ice was hailed as the standard bearer for their decidedly [c]old-school Death Metal approach, evoking comparisons to early Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower and Obituary. Now with Glacial Domination, Frozen Soul are experimenting with different approaches and pushing their own boundaries to craft something that retains the old-school death metal musical aesthetics whilst looking forward into the bands future.
The stylistic diversification is laid bare even from the opening moments of ‘Invisible Tormentor’, kicking the album off with horror-movie atmospherics and 80’s inspired dark wave synthesis before suddenly detonating into more of a thrash leaning track, with wild fly-picked shredding, blast-beats and a guttural roar from vocalist Chad Green. Whilst they retain their old-school Death Metal core, Frozen Soul have worked hard to change things up for the better. Adding in more prominent guitar hooks, melodies and harmonies as well as guitar solos, diversifying the vocal deliveries and adding in catchier vocal hooks in addition to more memorable chorus’ themselves. That’s not to say the band has stepped away their signature arctic sound completely, its just been filled out with newer elements. Tracks like the hulking chug of ‘Morbid Effigy’, the murderous pace of ‘Best Served Cold’ or the chilling glacial delivery of album closer ‘Atomic Winter’ all fit with the more traditional Frozen Soul aesthetic.
“Frozen Soul are experimenting with different approaches and pushing their own boundaries”
There are a tonne of guest appearances on the album further lending to the bands sky-rocketing reputation, whether it is John Gallagher of Dying Fetus on sure to be fan favourite ‘Morbid Effigy’, Reese Alavi (Creeping Death vocalist) and Blake Ibanez (Guitarist of Power Trip and Fugitive) on lead single and battle anthem ‘Arsenal of War’. More prominently contributions come in the form of the synthesis, which was courtesy of dark wave producer GOST and is pretty frequently used throughout the album. There is even a dedicated synth interlude crafted by GOST in the form of ‘Annihilation’, which almost acts as a separation between the traditional Frozen Soul sound of the first four tracks and the more self boundary-pushing second half of the album. This is as well as bookending both ‘Frozen Soul’ and ‘Assimilator’, which themselves work as a two-part track inspired heavily by the arctic fear of John Carpenter’s 1982 classic The Thing.
The largest outsider contributions to the album come in the form of Matt Heafy of Trivium, who is credited as co-producer of the album. The title track ‘Glacial Domination’, co-written by Heafy, strays into melodic death metal territory. It’s easy to hear the light touch of Heafy’s impact throughout without overwhelming the core of Frozen Soul. The incredibly catchy melodic and harmonic guitar lines, distinctive lead guitar tone and impressive technicality of Heafy’s guitar solos on the track lend themselves very well to Frozen Soul’s sound. This is also true of “Abominable”, featuring Heafy once again for a ripping and intense guitar solo over the piercing icy stalactite riffs.
“More prominently contributions come in the form of the synthesis, which was courtesy of dark wave producer GOST and is pretty frequently used throughout the album.”
Speaking of production, the album itself sounds excellent. As previously mentioned Matt Heafy is credited with co-production, the band have stated that Crypt of Ice producer and mixer Daniel Schmuck has returned to work with the band on Glacial Domination as well. Between the two, the soundscape that has been crafted for Frozen Soul is magnificent, significantly sharper than the debut whilst retaining the at times oppressive atmosphere and wide open reverbs that give the band their frosty edge. Chad Green’s vocals are clearer than ever, allowing you to pick up on the finer details of his guttural roars and barking vocal delivery. Samantha Mobley’s bass performances sit perfectly between the drums and guitars, giving that subtle low-end edge without overwhelming the details of either, locking in with Matt Dennard’s focussed and relentless drumming. With renewed focus on exploring the variance within guitar melodies, harmonies and solo’s, its apt that Michael Munday and Chris Bonner’s guitar tones (as well as the guest musicians) sound massive. Ranging from oppressive, distorted chugs and shredding to sailing lead tones straight out of thrash and old school death metal’s finest.
Glacial Domination is a resounding achievement for Frozen Soul, keeping their icy core at heart, building upon everything that worked for them and diversifying in the best way possible. They’ve worked hard to write the best follow up album they could and its paid off in the form of one of the best modern death metal releases in this new wave. This is essential listening for any death metal fans and is bound to further kick down doors and bring prominence to the encroaching age of ice brought forth by Frozen Soul.