Band:	Frozen Soul
Album:	Crypt Of Ice
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	January 08, 2021
A review by:	nikarg

01. Crypt Of Ice
02. Arctic Stranglehold
03. Hand Of Vengeance
04. Wraith Of Death
05. Merciless
06. Encased In Ice
07. Beat To Dust
08. Twist The Knife
09. Faceless Enemy
10. Gravedigger

A bunch of Texans playing ice cold death metal. It's not like we haven't seen weirder things happen.

Frozen Soul is a new band and they were lucky or good enough to be signed to a label as big as Century Media after just one demo. You may have come across them being called 'Cold Thrower' over the internet and this is actually a very apt name because, apart from the winter aesthetic, the rest of what the band is about is pure, unadulterated and unashamed Bolt Thrower worship. From mere coincidences (?) like having a female bass player to more essential stuff, such as the core of the music itself, Frozen Soul sounds like Bolt Thrower incarnate. Even the vocals bring Karl Willets to mind.

The music on Crypt Of Ice is entirely riff-driven; everything is based on riffs and there is a fuckload of those. Big, sludgy, groovy, heavy as fuck riffs that will blow your mind. And breakdowns that will crush your skull. Or what's left of it anyway from the riff bludgeoning. There is no respite but some very short atmospheric intros in some of the songs that last only a few seconds before Frozen Soul get down to business. And they do get down to business all right.

Apart from the excessive influence of Bolt Thrower, Frozen Soul seem to also like the Necroticism album of Carcass. Obvious examples are the drums at 1'30'' on the opening title track and the outro riff of "Encased In Ice", which are both paying homage to the grand master of all death metal songs, "Corporal Jigsore Quandary". There is also some hardcore and d-beat thrown in at times in a few songs, and that's all the variation you get really. As far as personal tastes go, these Texans have hit the nail on the head regarding what I like about death metal. I mean, this album is really fucking heavy. It has real war drums; you can check out my favourite song, "Faceless Enemy", which features a generous chunk of those. In case I haven't made myself clear already, the album has no solos and no prominent lead guitar parts, it's just riffs. Sorry, not just riffs but also breakdowns? fucking heavy as fuck breakdowns? go listen to "Merciless" right now and have your cranium opened in two.

"So why not a higher score after all this praise and all that excessive use of the f-word?", I'm sure you'll ask. Well, the main reason is that Crypt Of Ice shows its influences a bit too much. And since Frozen Soul like Bolt Thrower that much, they also need to push the bass up a bit in the mix. Another reason is that the record can feel somewhat repetitive towards the end due to its one-sidedness. That said, I have played the shit out of this album since it came out and it is a fucking banger every single time.

If you don't headbang to this, you are dead and you don't know it yet.

"Just inhale, no avail, you won't prevail,
Hold your breath, save your heat, pray for death, just pray for...death"