Riding on the back of yet more massively successful tours, the permafrost ridden riffs of Frozen Soul return to stamp your face in for 11 succinct tracks that distill down everything the band do well. But unfortunately, there isn’t really anything new here. That’s not to say it’s bad, the tracks are well constructed romps through triplet driven breakdowns, tight drum work and harsh vocals that never falter, but it can’t help but leave you wanting more (maybe that’s the point) from the Texas natives as the same tracks that have been held in such high regard from their previous releases.
The best thing about No Place Of Warmth is the kind of comforting psychological effect that comes from knowing where the songs are going next, there are no challenging surprises or weird little segways into other sub-genres. Frozen Soul do what they do and they do it really well. Backed up by their increasingly beefy live show, these songs will no doubt go down an absolute storm with any crowd of battle jacket-acquainted metal heads. And they should, they’re well put together, albeit a little tropey at times. Everything is now fine-tuned, the drums hit hard with each strike, the guitars have that delightful balance between pure dirt and articulation, meaning you can hear every string hit, and the vocals are sufficiently grating and ice-encased to complement everything else that’s going on here.
“The solo at the start of “Eyes of Despair,” is a proper killer old school styled affair, that evokes those early 90’s mid tempo death metal acts we’ve all come to know and love.”
There isn’t really a stand-out track here (although having Gerrard Way as a feat. is a masterclass in mental collabs), the whole album just hits on the same level all the way through. On one hand, this is another good thing; there aren’t really any skippable tracks, they all get up and do their job as well as the one that came before them. On the other hand, there’s no real highlights here. This is very much a record that plateaus at a respectable height, but far from the cloudline. Though saying that, the solo at the start of ‘Eyes of Despair’ is a proper killer old school styled affair, that evokes those early 90’s mid tempo death metal acts we’ve all come to know and love.
There’s good stuff here, there’s just not enough difference for it to be topping any album of the year charts (although we imagine it will for some people regardless). Still, there’s plenty to be enjoyed about another 40 mins of Bolt Thrower worship, and really, if you’re going to base your sound off another band, there aren’t many better choices than the Coventrian grind gods themselves. Despite everything, the riffs will inevitably cause your head to bang, voluntarily or not, and that’s never a bad thing when you’re sitting at your desk on a (much less cold and frozen) day.