North Dakota blackened thrash act Frosthelm are unleashing their debut full-length for Black Work (Alkemy Brothers), titled An Endless Winter. First, let's talk about that awesome cover art, which depicts a monstrous ice creature menacingly leering over a few frozen skeletons laying on a swirling snow capped ledge. Pretty cool visuals, and it perfectly sets the tone for this raging, cold, and savage album.
Though mixing black metal elements with thrash is hardly a new idea, Frosthelm have done a great job here making this combination sound fresh. "Tomb of the Sordid Ruin" rages with jagged tremolo picked guitar riffs, blazing lead solos, and harsh vocals, while "Storm of Teeth" has that complex thrash edge with some groove, instantly bringing to mind the Bay Area & German thrash scenes. "Beneath Dead Horizons" is one of the more manic tracks here, as black metal styled shrieks combat pummeling drum work and shredding guitars, while the title track sees the emergence of crushing blast beats and furious riffing in the grand tradition of the Scandinavian greats. Look for some epic sounds to mix with frenzied arrangements on "The Dragon", and "Silent and Dark, The Everlasting Sky" quite simply just rampages from start to finish.
Very solid all around, An Endless Winter is an enjoyable blackened thrash release that any extreme metal will want to check out. I think we'll be hearing a lot about this band in the months and years ahead.
Track Listing
01 Glacial Eon
02 Storm of Teeth
03 Forlorn Tides
04 Tomb of Sordid Ruin
05 Beneath Dead Horizons
06 Endless Winter
07 Hell Between Us
08 The Dragon
09 Silent and Dark, The Everlasting Sky
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