CROWHEAD
"Frozen"
(My Kingdom Music; 2002)
Reviewed by Christopher J. Kelter
Norway’s Crowhead, formed from the ashes of gothic metal legends Shadow Dancer, is a dark, gothic metal band. As you might guess, depression and melancholy rule the day on their full-length, label debut "Frozen."
"Frozen" gets off to a good start with "My Angel" mixing gothic metal and dark metal into a better than average track. However, it's the next two tracks that will really get the listener's attention. "Mad Man" and "Eternity (Drums Of Death)" are close to perfect for the genre. The haunting vocal in the chorus of "Mad Man" is particularly impressive. "Fire Eyes (Kill You)" brings a little doom/death to the proceedings with the band sounding more like old-My Dying Bride and heavy Katatonia during the verses before falling back on sweet vocal melodies during the chorus.
As good as I think some of the first seven songs are, I must tell you that my three and a half chainsaw rating does comes with a caveat. I'm not a big fan of techno in any manner, shape, or form. "Frozen" features three techno laden tracks. Although these three songs are tolerable they do not fit my notions of what metal should be. The remix of "My Angel" is actually pretty good because it accentuates the huge guitar chords without losing the listener in a deluge of bass heavy beats. "The Soul Of The Dark Side" in its two parts are wonderful complements for each other, but a bit too much on the techno side.
"Frozen" is an impressive effort that should find a solid number of fans who are into acts like Katatonia and To/Die/For.
"Frozen" was produced by Ted Skoggman and Fredrik Darum.
Crowhead is Jo-Inge Slangsvold on vocals and Oyvind "Rym" Trinborg on guitars. Guest musicians include Ted Skoggman on guitars and drums, and Fredrik Darum on synthesizers and guitars.
For more information visit http://www.angelfire.com/nb/crowhead/.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the
cover makes you wanna hurl.
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Revised: 28 Feb 2021 15:51:10 -0500.
