Band:	Obituary
Album:	Frozen In Time
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	July 11, 2005
A review by:	omne metallum

01. Redneck Stomp
02. On The Floor
03. Insane
04. Blindsided
05. Back Inside
06. Mindset
07. Stand Alone
08. Slow Death
09. Denied
10. Lockjaw

Frozen In Time is an aptly named album, serving as the physical record of several crossing paths in time, the first album from the band since they had reunited but also the last record to feature Allen West and the last album to be produced by Scott Burns before he bowed out of the music business. At the confluence of all these merging paths is an album that is strong but not a patch on what served to put Obituary on the pedestal they had earned for themselves.

Frozen In Time is a record few people had expected to come to fruition given the band's split in the late 90's; while death metal had lost its lustre since the glory days of the 90's, it was still a force to be reckoned with, and it could and would benefit from a veteran of the scene coming back and injecting a dose of the good stuff to give everyone a shot in the arm. Obituary may have been trading on nostalgia but they make damn sure to give people a reason to sit up and pay attention with each subsequent release.

Sonically, Frozen In Time sounds like The End Complete reheated, Burns giving the album a classic sound while benefitting from modern technology, merging both with apparent ease. While the album sounds modern and of its time, its feet are firmly rooted in the mould the band and Burns had cast over a decade prior. The songs sound tight and heavy with each element being clear and balancing menacing with power to a tee.

For the first time in the band's history, the strongest track is the instrumental, with "Redneck Stomp" having a riff and groove that runs up your spine and into your neck as you find yourself headbanging at mid pace without speeding up through the weight of the riff and coming out of sync with the track. The broody but effective riff will etch itself onto an area of your brain from where nothing will remove it; it's there now, don't fight it.

The rest of the album is strong and carries its own weight well; it's not dragging its heels or reliant on the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses to hide its imperfections and give the listener the sole reason to listen to the tracks. Tracks like "Slow Death" with its drumwork and booming bass drum will haunt you after it draws to a close, while tracks like "Insane" and "Mindset" will give you reason to return to this record not out of compulsion or want of a more extensive catalogue, but for quality tracks like them.

The problem facing Frozen In Time is that it had shoes that were too big to fill, being the next entry in what was at that point a near-flawless run of albums, and that's on top of all the elements mentioned in the introduction. Short of a series of lightening strikes hitting the same spot of inspiration, it was always going to be a tough call for whatever album came next. Removing all circumstance and observed in isolation, Frozen In Time is a good record, one that many bands would more than happily take as their own; Obituary unfortunately set a very high bar for themselves in the 90's and struggle to match it here. The songs are good but "Redneck Stomp" aside, there are no other tracks I would pick over a 90's song; they're by no means bad but it's like choosing between gold and bronze.

It was good to see the band back and the years had been kind to them, picking up pretty much where they left off sans a few cobwebs here and there. Burns signs off a legendary career with a punch with Frozen In Time, saying goodbye as Obituary say welcome back, an important album imbued with quality that comes close to matching its purpose.