With their sound being established and wanting to grow as a band they hired Trivium’s Matt Heafy to helm production duties and push their sound beyond where it had been before. Opener “Invisible Tormentor” will sound familiar to fans in terms of their first record, riffs that are slow and calculated in conjunction with vocalist Chad Green’s voice continuing its aural assault.
Upon reaching “Arsenal of War,” Frozen Soul begin to showcase some new sounds in the form of solos which were largely absent on their debut, adding a layer of depth to this concentrated attack. Normally a transitional track like “Annihilation” wouldn’t garner extra attention, but the inclusion of Gost to help them create a synthwave track to add horror movie vibes helps vary their attack for all the different sounds they will cover on the latter half of the record.
The album’s title track is a perfect showcase of the band experimenting with a melodic style that blends expertly with their known sound, again adding in solos without straying from what make Frozen Soul one of the best new death metal bands in the scene today. “Assimilator” plods along with riffs that drag the waters, drums that are lively and inspired betwixt harmonics that pop in and out expressing more of that extra flavor they recently acquired, allowing for a rise and fall of the music’s pace, something that was a rare feat on Crypt Of Ice.
“Abominable” was co-written by Heafy, who brought the main riff to the band and challenged Frozen Soul to make it their own. The resulting chaos is one rife with sounds both new and old, almost like watching the transition process happen during the track in real time; slow riffs crash throughout the earlier sections meeting in the middle for a scorcher of a solo that is among the best things the band has written to this point, then moving back in the chaos for one final salvo.
Glacial Domination is the sound of Frozen Soul going from good to great, adding those finishing touches on a sophomore record that sets them apart from other death metal bands. Their domination is just beginning.
(released May 19, 2023 on Century Media Records)
