“Reduced to absolute zero.”
For an art form to expand beyond its confines, it’s essential that it has a scene driving it. A scene needs three things: a diverse pool of artists, an audience, and perhaps most essentially, practice. It must happen, night after night, in galleries small and large, if only so that it can stay alive, let alone thrive. The public’s focus will always be on the few artists that break out, but, aside from payola botnets, the scene is what creates the necessary buoyancy to let some rise up. In modern guitar music, hardcore is always quick to boast of its community spirit, so it’s easy to see how networks of small promoters and scrappy bands have built a tower that’s putting modern acts into stadiums. Frozen Soul could be the embodiment of death metal’s modern scene. They are known for being some of the coolest individuals in the community, not least because they run their very own festival, but also because their sound is so death metal that it’s practically purebred.
For their third album, Frozen Soul entered the studio with nothing on hand, spending six weeks building eleven songs that are guaranteed to make you say ‘yep, that’s just straight up death metal’. This isn’t the first time Frozen Soul have made something compositionally lukewarm – like that pizza place that takes an hour to deliver, despite being a five-minute drive, it’s their speciality. Crypt of Ice and Glacial Domination were both extremely straightforward records, yet they’ve turned the band into an unstoppable iceberg, garnering international attention and countless tours. Thus, No Place of Warmth doesn’t fix what ain’t broke. Knowing this, most readers will already know if it’s worth their time or not.
Frozen Soul’s sound continues to occupy the beefy mid-tempo realm. Chad Green’s voice is multi-textural, a gritty bellow that is a huge part of the band’s appeal. The rest is their simplicity. Whether it’s a palm muted chug, two-step groove or circle pit riff, each lands with comfort and confidence. They take only a few solos, preferring to navigate back to Green’s commanding vocals in most cases, with some exceptions like “Eyes of Despair”’s whammy based introduction. The message of the record is perhaps the most fundamentally “death metal” thing about it: frigid music designed to make its listener feel powerful, providing a soundtrack for conquering your demons (be they real, or just in Magic: the Gathering).
If you’re looking for variety from No Place of Warmth, you’re not quite on thin ice. “Absolute Zero” is a tiny fifty-second bleeder, perhaps the band’s punt at a track that will have hardcore kids squabbling for a mic grab. They push the boat out with some hilarious bass drops, one of the few indulgences outside their hardcore-tinged Blot Thrower sound. “Chaos Will Reign” and “Eyes of Despair” also fire some sub drops, and there are some delightful war-metal clangs in “Frost Forged”. “Etheral Dreams” is the big track that resembles the slightly longer pieces from Glacial Domination, and its epic posture helps the somewhat more contemplative lyrics land.
“Skinned by the Wind” and “DEATHWEAVER” are an intriguing combo. The former opens on a sample and keeps it short, then transitions into the latter on a dime. “DEATHWEAVER” is precious with its vocals, letting the solid riffwork build up slowly. This structure is a welcome break from the otherwise chorus-oriented death metal which runs out of steam towards the end of the record. It’s too on the nose, and the final track is the final straw – no prizes for guessing what the hook of “Killin Time (Until its Time to Kill)” is.
Frozen Soul’s features have raised many eyebrows since the beginning. Trivium, Dying Fetus, and GosT (RIP) brought uncanny levels of heavyweight stardom to their debut. No Place of Warmth trumps this, with Sanguisugabogg and Machine Head add spice to some of the early tracks. But it’s the Gerard Way feature that shocked us all, a name that will no doubts draw a lot of additional attention to the release. His part on the title track is fantastic – as his curdled scream “you will find no shelter / no peace” rings out, the band hits the perfect two-step groove. It could be Frozen Soul’s greatest moment yet. The only flaw is that the three features are invoked in the same way – the bridge comes round and the guest steps up, with Green’s vocals returning for a duet on the final chorus. Furthermore, stacking all these features at the front feels a little rote, and this is not a record that needs anything more rote.
No Place Of Warmth is the Madagascar Bourbon vanilla ice cream tub of death metal. Crafted by seasoned experts and presented impeccably, it goes down easy, but as the scoops go on and on, you’ll wish for something a little more Neapolitan. The experience of listening to No Place of Warmth is more than agreeable, but lined up against the rest of the death metal and hardcore scene’s heavyweights, its charm is fleeting. It’s not that appetite for pure and simple beatdown is lacking; the band’s success feels somewhat disproportionate to the intrigue of their music. This is a grim omen that they’ll have to wait for their next album to escape from. Nonetheless, No Place Of Warmth should be respected for its fundamentals, and more importantly, Frozen Soul should be applauded as a cornerstone of the scene.
6/10
No Place of Warmth releases on the 8th May through Century Media Records and can be pre-ordered here.