All the tracks have been recorded, mixed and mastered. I am very content with the outcome.
This release is a new era for Frostwork, The new material has a slightly darker adaptation to the sound and a more aggressive feel to the music.
The art work for the release is coming on very well and I feel it will compliment the music greatly, it is also near completion and when the cover is finalised, It will be uploaded to the relevant web sites.
Thank you to everyone involved so far with this chapter of Frostwork. The wait will be soon over.
“This is no imagery this is my reality, no ancient sorcery just primal ferocity!”
More updates soon
I am pleased to announce the name of the new release to be :
LORE OF WINTER – EALDSPELL
As mentioned in the last update all the album is now musically finished and I am currently about half the way though designing the Inlay and booklet.
The front cover is done and is available to view on the FROSTWORKs Facebook and Myspace pages
Keep posted for an exclusive first interview with FROSTWORK regarding the past and the present also news about new album on @
My view of Frostwork’s initial demo, “The Rites of Winter – The First Storm”, which spewed forth ice from speakers in 2008, was that with this solo project, Dagon had created a tantalising mixture of raw, classic black metal and authentic atmosphere, and that I would be thoroughly gratified by a more polished version of greater duration. Being that the purpose of British black metallers is, as we all know, to keep me contented, three years down the line I have precisely that. That “Lore of Winter – Ealdspell” builds on the promise of “The Rites of Winter” is icicle-clear, but it’s also true that it outstrips its predecessor on a number of fronts.
The album moves enticingly between three varying but coherent ‘sections’; a rather folky but sombre invocation of winter feeling, over which Raven presides as spirit animal, leading into a furious, lethal blizzard of death and despair at the centre of the piece, then out again, stepping more lightly in the paw-tracks of Wolf. The fact that I can (hopefully) share in and interpret this atmospheric journey is largely due to the pervasiveness of the mood set by the album’s opening, “The Winter Raven”. An evocative, dreamy, poignant interplay of thoughtful, clean guitar shapes, deep, calm chorals, bone-chilling, seasonal sound effects and a growling whisper, this track pushes the mind down bitter but beautiful paths. The continuation of a clean, ritualistic vocal layer onto the much harsher, spikier “On White Carrion Wings” seals the deal; the listener is invited to become lost in dark dream-spaces.
Of course, I’d feel short-changed if said listener wasn’t then shredded into little, bloody bits by a maelstrom of raw, bleak, arctic black metal hell, and being a rather obliging goatlord, Dagon provides in the form of “Frozen Veins Shed No Blood” and “Essence of Darkest Winter”. The guitar shapes on these two assaults are classic and instantly memorable (particularly that which gives “Frozen Veins” its bite), evoking black metal’s Nordic forefathers without falling into straight emulation; the song structures are carefully considered, the pacing bass is menacing and forceful, the throaty, grim vocal is strong and assured. The guitar tone here is fearsomely sharp; coupled with the insistence of the percussive programming it might be the death of some, but for me… outrageously raw is sublimely beautiful, in an inspired but hideous kind of a way.
As mentioned, “Lore of Winter” is thoughtfully structured, but concluding with “This Woman Wolf Skin Clad” works on more than one level. This is an exceptional composition, which builds and builds with patience, elegance and a huge, glacial weight of black metal atmosphere; I can’t finish a review without mentioning how much of a jaw-dropping stand-out it was for me. Shame I’ve burned through too much space to mention a wealth of other things; the lovely, bold, narrative acoustic guitar of “Cast From His Wings” (co-written with Heathen Deity colleague Azrael), the incredible additions of samples to “When Raven Claws the Sky” and “The She Wolf”, the English black metal heritage that runs through much of the guitar work, my sheer joy that atmospheric or ambient black metal can be created that’s a totally different kettle of fish to old Vikernes and his clones… but I can tell no more. You’ll have to wait until this album finds a rightful home, and trip down its coldly phantasmic paths for yourself.
87/100
ELLEN SIMPSON
LINKS:
Facebook
Myspace
Reverbnation
Youtube Channel
Soundcloud
PATRICIA THOMAS BAND MANAGEMENT
Looking forward to the new CD!
Frostwork – Update – 8.1.11
Ave !
All the tracks have been recorded, mixed and mastered. I am very content with the outcome.
This release is a new era for Frostwork, The new material has a slightly darker adaptation to the sound and a more aggressive feel to the music.
The art work for the release is coming on very well and I feel it will compliment the music greatly, it is also near completion and when the cover is finalised, It will be uploaded to the relevant web sites.
Thank you to everyone involved so far with this chapter of Frostwork. The wait will be soon over.
“This is no imagery this is my reality, no ancient sorcery just primal ferocity!”
More updates soon
Dagon
Frostwork – Update – 19.1.12
Ave !
I am pleased to announce the name of the new release to be :
LORE OF WINTER – EALDSPELL
As mentioned in the last update all the album is now musically finished and I am currently about half the way though designing the Inlay and booklet.
The front cover is done and is available to view on the FROSTWORKs Facebook and Myspace pages
Keep posted for an exclusive first interview with FROSTWORK regarding the past and the present also news about new album on @
http://www.heavyhardmetalmania.net/
More updates soon
Dagon
FIRST UNRELEASED REVIEW – FROSTWORK : LORE OF WINTER – EALDSPELL
http://hierophant-nox.com/
My view of Frostwork’s initial demo, “The Rites of Winter – The First Storm”, which spewed forth ice from speakers in 2008, was that with this solo project, Dagon had created a tantalising mixture of raw, classic black metal and authentic atmosphere, and that I would be thoroughly gratified by a more polished version of greater duration. Being that the purpose of British black metallers is, as we all know, to keep me contented, three years down the line I have precisely that. That “Lore of Winter – Ealdspell” builds on the promise of “The Rites of Winter” is icicle-clear, but it’s also true that it outstrips its predecessor on a number of fronts.
The album moves enticingly between three varying but coherent ‘sections’; a rather folky but sombre invocation of winter feeling, over which Raven presides as spirit animal, leading into a furious, lethal blizzard of death and despair at the centre of the piece, then out again, stepping more lightly in the paw-tracks of Wolf. The fact that I can (hopefully) share in and interpret this atmospheric journey is largely due to the pervasiveness of the mood set by the album’s opening, “The Winter Raven”. An evocative, dreamy, poignant interplay of thoughtful, clean guitar shapes, deep, calm chorals, bone-chilling, seasonal sound effects and a growling whisper, this track pushes the mind down bitter but beautiful paths. The continuation of a clean, ritualistic vocal layer onto the much harsher, spikier “On White Carrion Wings” seals the deal; the listener is invited to become lost in dark dream-spaces.
Of course, I’d feel short-changed if said listener wasn’t then shredded into little, bloody bits by a maelstrom of raw, bleak, arctic black metal hell, and being a rather obliging goatlord, Dagon provides in the form of “Frozen Veins Shed No Blood” and “Essence of Darkest Winter”. The guitar shapes on these two assaults are classic and instantly memorable (particularly that which gives “Frozen Veins” its bite), evoking black metal’s Nordic forefathers without falling into straight emulation; the song structures are carefully considered, the pacing bass is menacing and forceful, the throaty, grim vocal is strong and assured. The guitar tone here is fearsomely sharp; coupled with the insistence of the percussive programming it might be the death of some, but for me… outrageously raw is sublimely beautiful, in an inspired but hideous kind of a way.
As mentioned, “Lore of Winter” is thoughtfully structured, but concluding with “This Woman Wolf Skin Clad” works on more than one level. This is an exceptional composition, which builds and builds with patience, elegance and a huge, glacial weight of black metal atmosphere; I can’t finish a review without mentioning how much of a jaw-dropping stand-out it was for me. Shame I’ve burned through too much space to mention a wealth of other things; the lovely, bold, narrative acoustic guitar of “Cast From His Wings” (co-written with Heathen Deity colleague Azrael), the incredible additions of samples to “When Raven Claws the Sky” and “The She Wolf”, the English black metal heritage that runs through much of the guitar work, my sheer joy that atmospheric or ambient black metal can be created that’s a totally different kettle of fish to old Vikernes and his clones… but I can tell no more. You’ll have to wait until this album finds a rightful home, and trip down its coldly phantasmic paths for yourself.
87/100
ELLEN SIMPSON
LINKS:
Facebook
Myspace
Reverbnation
Youtube Channel
Soundcloud