Frostshock have been around since 2020 and have released an insanely strong album with their self-titled debut. They were able to prove their live qualities together with bands like Sodom at this year's Turock-Fest in Bochum. Fortunately, a friend of mine was among the visitors, so I heard about Frostshock by word of mouth, because the four musicians don't have a label behind them that could do any major advertising, the album is completely self-released. Given the outstanding quality of the music, pretty much any label from the heavier genre should have been able to get involved, but perhaps it was a conscious decision to do everything themselves, more on that in the upcoming interview with the band.
But let's finally get to the music. The album starts with a wonderfully melancholic intro, carried by calm arpeggios, before an aggressive storm descends upon us with "The serpent inside". Death / thrash is the band's métier, played in a technically skillful and aggressive manner, always striving for as much variety as possible within the overall rather narrow framework of the genre. Here, the great melodies immediately bring to mind old In Flames in their best times, and as the album progressed, I sometimes thought of one or two bands from Gothenburg or representatives of the No Fashion school, named after the Swedish cult label that unfortunately no longer exists, bands such as Dark Tranquillity in their old days, Ablaze my Sorrow, Unanimated or Eucharist, in addition to the aforementioned In Flames. Nevertheless, the band is more multi-layered, and "Morbus Influencer" could have been inspired in part by a band like Morbid Angel. Great melodies break again and again, the tempos are varied and razor-sharp riffs mill their way through the ear canals, while the brutal, yet relatively easy to understand and well-accentuated vocals complete the sound.
In the end, the only thing left to say is that anyone who likes aggressive death metal that offers more than standard fare and also likes melodic elements should pick this up. (listen HERE ). The great, atmospheric cover artwork by singer and guitarist Flemming, which also visualizes the band name in a certain way, perfects the overall work. In this respect, the album is perfect in itself, there are no failures, but if I were asked for tips on what to play, I would name "The serpent inside", the brutal "Morbus Influencer", the rather playful mid-tempo "Begraben im Eis" (German for "buried in ice"), "Frostshock" and the two closing tracks "Angrinist" and "Putrefaction of the soul", which offer an excellent mixture of melody and aggression. As you can see, almost every track deserves the highest score! The only question is how the band wants to top such an album... either way, I wouldn't be surprised if we see the band in the not too distant future with a strong label behind them and on bigger stages, it would definitely be well deserved. More on that soon in the interview!
