FROST

Frost is Norwegian viking black metal band Enslaved´s second album. Enslaved have with their last couple of releases produced some really essential albums in the hybrid genre between black metal and progressive rock and that´s obviously why they are represented here on Prog Archives because their early albums are more fit for a metal site and this includes Frost. That´s not to say that there aren´t any progressive elements on Frost but they are few and far between.

The music is raw and generally primitive black metal with viking and Norse mythology lyrics and the raspy vocals from Grutle Kjellson. Enslaved have clearly progressed since their debut album Vikingligr Veldi which I found enjoyable but a bit too trivial. One of the things I enjoy about Frost is that Enslaved play in varied tempi. There´s everything from intense blast beats to more slow acoutic sections and mid tempo metal riffing. Most songs are pretty straight but very powerful black metal songs. Two songs stand out from the rest though: Yggdrasil is the most progressive song here and Grutle Kjellson even sings some clean vocals here. Well not very clean as he can´t seem to hit the notes, but the effect is great anyway. Isöders dronning is the ending song on Frost and probably the one along with Yggdrasil that prog heads will have most interest in on Frost. It´s a good song with acoustic parts and it´s a sign of things to come IMO.

The musicianship is much better than it was on Vikingligr Veldi and especially the drumming from Trym Torson is much tighter and well played.

The production is pretty enjoyable even though it is the typical thin black metal sound where you almost can´t hear the bass. I really enjoy the great drum sound and especially the sound on the bassdrums which is really well produced in my opinion. The guitar sound is very thin but nice and sharp. Ivar Björnson plays lots of open chords to create an atmosphere in the music and succeeds IMO.

Frost is a much more enjoyable album than what I had expected after listening to Vikingligr Veldi. Enslaved have really improved and become a force to reckon with. On a prog site Frost should probably be rewarded with 2 stars but I will put an extra star on that rating as I really think it is a good album. 3 stars for this extreme metal album.