FROZEN MIST-ESPERSHADES

There are very few bands which can gleefully fling so many components of separate genres together with reckless abandon to brew up one giant intoxicating concoction and still sound like the same outfit consistently rather than a hodge podge of ill-fitting ideas.

North Americas Frozen Mist are one such unit who can and do, resulting in a powerful mixture of sounds they themselves like to refer to as Dark Melodic Fantasy Metal, a genre possibly inhabited by them alone but one which could well take off and be applied to other successful style merging entities.

Frozen Mist is the conception of multiskilled instrumentalist/vocalist/lyricist Jamie Stonge, and one that has grown into a fiery hybrid animal boasting an extremely prolific output many bands can only dream of achieving in a lifetime career.



In approximately five years the project has churned out in excess of fifteen releases, many of them full length albums, this massive workload beginning in 2004 with the 'Fatal Dream' demo and spanning to the current offering 'Espershades', the later years also seeing Frozen Mist catalyst Stonge tinkering with other musical inventions, most notably Brumous.

Inspired by bands as diverse as Paradise Lost, Overkill, King Diamond and Serpentia to name a few Frozen Mist is a glorious head on collision of musical variety, tying heavy horror and entrancing beauty into one big knot on the hour long spread of 'Espershades'.

This ten piece recording begins with 'The Articulate Vision' which itself starts like some horror film soundtrack with an amplifying build-up of ambient material and orchestral gothicisms that is sharply pile driven into the ground by an immense chugging monster riff slamming the eardrums.

Battering percussion including a big menacing throb of rhythm is fused with this thrashing behemoth and then the track blasts off into overdrive as it is beset by an assault of vocals.

These vocals run the whole gamut of techniques, we have deep death grumbles alternating with venomous snarls whilst there are hordes of clean vocals that give the creation something of a stadium metal feel and on top of that there is even the odd appearance of power metal falsetto screams.

Spooky spectral keys flicker faintly in the mix and some pinched harmonics as well but mostly these elements are crushed underfoot by the mammoth barrage of the relentless jackhammer instrumentation.



Elsewhere the strokes of keyboards are more prominent such as the intro to 'Enigma' where they dance into bursts of stuttered riffery, shouty vocals and insane lead breaks, and most conspicuously on instrumental interlude 'Distant Apparitions'.

While the former uses the keys sparingly to construct an atmosphere prior to demolishing this ambience under a hellish torrent of wickedly heavy musical abuse akin to noise terrorists War Plague and Kratornas the latter is a two minute forty second descent into doleful domains.

With key notes tiptoeing in cautious little patterns and tinkling melodies it is in direct opposition to the guitar based muscle of other songs but nonetheless it still dredges up a horror type aura sounding ill-omened and a fraction disturbing.
Fraught with repetition and devoid of all but keys it appears purposefully disjointed and intent on creating disharmony and fear rather than relaxing one with traditionally recognised aesthetically pleasing structures.

The burly attack dog mode of 'Paradox' instantly appeals to my fondness for speed and brutality.

On the offensive from the get go it bludgeons listeners with an immediate jackhammer thrash riff coupled with thumping drums and though fairly early on in the piece the well-developed hurtle is joined by a solo surprisingly the frenzied lead break addendum doesn’t counteract the tracks incensed intent at all.

There is a strong industrial vibe to the composition and consequently I'm put in mind at times of the sterling work of Dodheimsgard which couldn’t please me more, even once howling demonic vocals split the cavalcade of chaos.

'Paradox' is a standout track in my book, meshing a whole lot of things together in a weird conglomeration but one that works incredibly well.

Placing acoustic passages alongside gargantuan industrial riffing plus heavy throbs of bass, curious programming, different vocal styles, horror ambience and orchestral gothic embellishments might not sound on paper like a fruitful marriage but it certainly turns out that way here.



Further industrial dalliances are toyed with in album closer 'ESP', a malevolent though sometimes bewildering entity rolling in on an electronica intro that sounds like something left off of a Combichrist record.
These techno type gambits are partnered by a sizeable firestorm of guitar then an infernal roar of vocals sprays venom into the mix.

As with the majority of the rest of the songs plenty of dissimilar methods are harnessed to produce the vocals and this juggernaut is no exception from this initial death metal style to black metal screams.

Solos abound in here though personally I would have left them out, I far prefer the aggressive Rammstein stomp without warbling leads and melodic traces.

'Espershades' is a highly accomplished achievement signalling that even after so many releases Jamie Stonge and his crazy carnival that is Frozen Mist still appear to have lots of creativity and musical inspiration to keep birthing new stuff.

There is something in here to suit almost anyone and while some of it tries to bite off a bit more than it can chew resulting in overcrowding to some compositions the vast majority never fails to enthral and entertain.



Track Listing

1. The Articulate Vision
2. Dramatized
3. Enigma
4. Paranormal Perception
5. Telesthesia
6. Silent Quintessence
7. Distant Apparitions
8. Paradox
9. Rhetoric Gale
10. ESP

Band Members
Jamie-Lead vocals, lead drums, rhythm guitar, bass, keys
Wulv-Lead and backing vocals
Richard-Lead Guitar (Guest)

Written by Jamie Goforth
©2009 BlackMetalJim

Black Belle Music Website:
http://www.blackbelle.tk