Frozen Crown – Crowned in Frost

 As good and high-energy as the album is, it’s pretty linear, with all the recognizable hallmarks being very much present (I mean, “Lost in time” is so catchy is feels like “Everwinter” part 2), thought there are a few highlights and a few misses along the way. “Winterfall” is the longest track on the album clocking in at 7:50 and has some beautiful underlying piano lines that balance some of the hash vocals and the thunderous drums. And I just love the piano break (solo?) halfway through the track, which adds to the atmosphere and drama of the story. “Crowned in Frost” is the second longest song at 6:49 and once again feature piano lines, heavy guitar riffs, harsh and clean vocals in one majestic display of great songwriting, arrangement, and performance. However, nice synth-driven interlude “The wolf and the maiden” brings some sci-fi / Ayreon vibes to the album, which somehow feel out of place. Same goes for “Enthroned” with its operatic vocals and piano melodies, which, again, don’t work. I get that the role of an interlude is to give the listeners a chance to catch their breath and transition between songs, but these two only seem to disrupt the flow of the album.

 The rest of the songs are pretty good, with tight instrumental and great vocals, but with little variety a formula that is working well for them. As I stated in my review for “The Fallen King”, Frozen Crown are not ‘reinventing the wheel’, but then again few bands / artists really are that ingenious and creative. Nonetheless, what Frozen Crown does, and does good, is mesh together power metal and heavy metal in a seamless way, so as to have on one hand, the catchiness and melody of power metal, and on the other hand, the heaviness and aggressiveness of heavy metal as the basis for their sound. And while they are succeeding in this respect, I wish they would step out of their comfort zone and mix things up a bit more (more piano lines and less chugging guitars, like on “Lost in Time”). Giada Etro is a very capable singer, and would be nice to hear more versatility from her part as opposed to the same type of vocals she has offered so far in Frozen Crown, like a full blown, emotional ballad (something in the veins of “Across the sea”). Maybe on the next offering.