Frozen Soul – Crypt Of Ice: Album Review

By Dominic Walsh on 15th January 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

Frozen Soul release their debut album invoking the classic sounds of Stockholm death metal, Carcass and Bolt Thrower.

Released: 8th January 2021

Label: Century Media Records

Format: CD / LP / Digital

Crypt Of Ice is the debut album from Texan death metal outfit, Frozen Soul. It follows the release of their debut EP, Enclosed In Ice, in 2019. Death metal is the perfect accompaniment to the wintery months and Frozen Soul deliver the perfect accompaniment in swathes.

For any fan of death metal, you know what it means when a band fits the genre. Grinding riffs, deathly growls, blast beats, brutal bass tone and songs of death, doom and gloom. All of these things appear on Crypt Of Ice in abundance but there is so much more at play here.

The obligatory haunting opening sets the icy tone as the guitars and drums chime in at a marching pace before the touch paper is lit on the title track. The drumming throughout Crypt Of Ice is sublime. Arctic Stranglehold follows the title track and again, the mix and production on this record is killer.

Whilst the drumming of Matt Dennard is spectacular, the bass of Samantha Mobley is equally impressive. The low end of the record rumbles. Some of the tempos on Crypt Of Ice really chug along. Wraith Of Death and Merciless slow right down so that you can feel the kick drum rattling your ribcage and the bass smothering your body. Mobley shines on Twist The Knife as her solo bass rumbles the song into action.

Showing their talent, Frozen Soul slay on the quicker paced tracks in the form of Hand Of Vengeance and Beat To Dust. The latter has a great middle section which again will shake you to your core. The amount of tempo changes in one song could give Iron Maiden a run for their money; except Frozen Soul do it in four minutes!

Chad Green is vocalist with the band; his harsh, death metal style is excellent. However what is great about Crypt Of Ice is that you can make out the lyrics which enables you to take the trip further into the crypt for the full immersive experience.

Faceless Enemy is the penultimate track on the album and one of the best on the record. The guitars of Michael Munday and Chris Bonner produce a brilliant collection of riffs that just beg for you to wreck your neck, headbanging. Gravedigger closes out the album with the guitars sounding more dense than at any point in the record.

Crypt Of Ice is a huge success of a record. It is genuinely monolithic. This Texan outfit allow no fat on the album – a mistake that some bands can make when they want to make an impression. They don’t mess around with fitting into one box; they pull on many influences and make their own dastardly sound. Frozen Soul have delivered one of the best death metal albums of recent memory.

Listen to Crypt Of Ice from Frozen Soul below.