Winter's Embrace

Frosthammer is a four piece black metal band from Canada. In many ways the band is reminiscent of Bathory. Expect a cold trip through realms that have previously been explored musically, but are still fun to visit from time to time. Frosthammer is an excellent band to add to the list of awesome Canadian black metal.

The band's sound is very raw but still somehow easy to digest. The playing featured here is primitive and creates that frostbitten atmosphere. The lofi playing works as a wall of sound laced with the hideous shrieks of a tortured soul.The vocals include an abundance of shrieking and some cleans thrown in for good measure. The shriek used is very raspy and for the most part weak. It sounds as though the vocalist is having some kind of struggle that I can only assume is intentional. The style works extremely well with the music especially during the opening of "Into the Perpetual Darkness" when he belts out a vicious battlecry.

Throughout the playtime Frosthammer throws a few twists and turns in to keep the listener focused. The most notable would be the track "Shadows" which is a very mellow, warm track. The calm doesn't last long though when it is interrupted by the next track's fierce and haunting tremolo picking. Rather than focusing on being evil or kvlt Frosthammer really works at embracing the ability of creating haunting atmospheres. When compared to the bands next release it is hard to say which style is better but it is obvious that Frosthammer have a solid grasp on writing and keeping a fluent atmosphere in everything they do.

Overall Frosthammer certainly shows some potential with Winter's Embrace. This release isn't anything groundbreaking but the band captures an interesting enough sound that the twenty seven minute playtime goes by fairly quickly. Seasoned listeners won't find anything new here but it is still worth a few listens to say the least. After this demo the band took a drastic turn (which you will hear about on my upcoming reviews). Though this demo is great, the band evolving was a good move (though I'm sure most purists would disagree). Give this one a chance. The demos are available for free download on the band's bandcamp page.

Canada’s Frosthammer is a very stylish black metal outfit that might capture the ear of many a black metal fan in the coming months.

This trio is on its second demo release, this one titled Winter’s Embrace and I think you might want to watch out for these guys. Somewhat primitive (like their contemporaries) the rawness and talent are evident throughout. The minute this started pouring out of my speakers I knew something very good was in the making. For a demo the production is as “kvlt” as it gets while still being enjoyable and discernable with a nice mix of the instruments. There’s no boom-box sound here.

The tracks are cold black metal the way it should be heard, and while they’re no Vinterland or Darkthrone just yet these guys might just take you by surprise. Especially good is the opener “In Silence”, though the rest of the demo fares just fine as well. It’s dim and haunting metal like the Swedes are famous for creating. A mesh of Bathory’s Blood Fire Death and a splash of Hammerheart with some early ‘90’s black metal fit the perfect mold here.

Check them out when you can at their site and support the underground!

(Originally written for http://www.metalpsalter.com)