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Frost (UK) Talking To God ~reviewed by Joel Steudler Sometimes, I like to let press releases speak for themselves. With that in mind, lets see what the PR material for Frost's new album Talking To God has to say... "The second black metal masterwork from Frost, evolving through necro hell to new territories of dynamic extremity and atmospheric grimness."That's kind of like a sentence, I think, though it could use some more verbs. Sounds exciting, at least, but I don't really know what it means. Maybe if I were to read more, it would help make some sense of things... "... Frost have taken the black metal blueprint of pure necro grimness and torn it in half."Wow! That does sound extreme! And dynamic! And violent. Frost must be real vagabonds -iconoclasts, even- to dare undertake such heretical actions. Tearing the blueprint for a whole genre in half! What will people think? Such scandalous acts will cause quite a stir once word gets out. I'd better listen to the album now. I simply must experience such wanton disregard for the establishment with my own ears! Here we go... ... ... Well, I am aghast with shock. This is just another generic black metal album. The songs are mostly repetitive, droning affairs light on atmosphere and long on numbing sameness. If you find oppressive dullness to be somehow stimulating, there's plenty to like on 'Talking to God'. There's not a catchy riff to be found anywhere on the album. The only flickers of worthwhile music come in the form of sparsely intermittent thrashy guitar leads and some quasi-dramatic choral chanting. Otherwise, Talking To God plays like Immortal's Sons of Northern Darkness minus all the interesting bits. The oddly named musicians in Frost are purveyors of faceless monotony, doing nothing to distinguish themselves from any other black metal act. I'll admit, I'm being pretty hard on Frost.
It's partially due to the ridiculous PR hype, which I suppose isn't their
fault at all. But it's also due to the fact that nary a riff on 'Talking
To God' strays more than a semitone or two from good ol E5 powerchords,
and they bludgeon you with that same sound over and over and over for forty
five minutes. They may have torn the blueprint for necro grimness
in half, but they quickly taped it back together and followed it to the
letter. These songs wouldn't even make the cut as filler on a good
band's album. Frost certainly charts no new territory, and they aren't
at all extreme (except for being extremely dull). I suppose there
are those of you out there who would characterize those traits as 'brutal'
or maybe 'fucking necro, man!' or something. Not me. Frost
just leaves me cold.
Track List:
Frost is:
Frost Official Site:
The End Records (US):
Rage Of Achilles Records:
04/15/04 |