Review: Frost Like Ashes – Fellowship of Suffering
Review – Frost Like Ashes – Fellowship of Suffering
For some fairly obvious reasons, Christians playing black metal has always caused no shortage of controversy. Horde and Antestor’s existence alone was enough to rock the Euronymous-led Norwegian and Swedish black metal scene and cause a slew of death threats and hatred to be sent out the direction of those bands. Ironically, those bands and albums like Hellig Usvart and Kongsblod have come to be somewhat accepted as the classics they are within some non-Christian music circles. But it was another black metal act entirely that took musical controversy to new heights, and that band was Frost Like Ashes. Their first and technically only album, Tophet, seemed to shake the Christian music more than the secular, and songs like the infamous “Desecrator” proved to be too much for some to stomach. Sadly, the band disappeared after the release of their last EP Born to Pieces in 2008, and left behind nothing but echoed screams and scorched black earth. Fifteen years later, one of the greats of unblack metal decided it was high time to release another opus, and somehow it seems to have escaped the attention it deserves. Today, we take a look at the 2023 EP Fellowship of Suffering.
Frost Like Ashes throw a bunch of influences into the blender when it comes to their approach, mixing the violent thrash of Vengeance Rising and Possession with a keyboard-laced black/death metal style. While Tophet was a fantastic record, there are times in which the Cradle of Filth similarities seem a little too upfront (that said, Frost Like Ashes’ keyboards and atmospheres do not seem to me to indicate any gothic elements like the aforementioned act). Fellowship of Suffering, however, is the sound of a band entirely sure of itself, rejuvenated and absolutely on fire (the same kind of feeling one gets from return-to-form records like In Flames’ Foregone or Carcass’ Surgical Steel). Boasting a new line-up featuring the uber-prolific Fire (of Elgibbor, Fire Throne, Katumus and a whole host of other acts) and the very oddly-named drummer The Blastronaut (who, if I’m not mistaken, is Brandon Lopez from Broken Flesh – correct me if I’m wrong!), Fellowship of Suffering is one heck of an icy slab of black metal fury. The production on here is heavy and full while still keeping that signature cold feel black metal is known for, and time has only made these guys better on every level in terms of their performance on here. Azahel’s signature Dani Filth-style shriek sounds far better than it ever has – searing, dynamic, varied, and absolutely hostile. Longtime guitarist Sebat incorporates his obvious love of thrash metal into a black metal format and ends up sounding absolutely glorious with solos that rip, shred, swoop and lacerate within a storm of barely controlled chaos. In short, this is the classic Frost Like Ashes sound taken to a new level, setting the bar very, very high.
It’s a good thing too that they sound so feral on this record as they do, as the lyrics have taken a step back from the shock-inducing themes of earlier material. I for one am glad for this. The anti-satanic approach that began with Horde can only be explored so much, and often ends up simply recycling its themes over and over. There’s a place for this, but one can only crush those bloodied horns of the goat so many times. Here, Frost Like Ashes took the path begun by Antestor instead, focusing inward upon the spiritual life; in particular, the band has decided to focus in on the themes of isolation, loneliness, abandonment. “How I long to be a part of their deathly peaceful march, With the cold wrapped around and the fog calling on to some nether ethereal song…I long to dive beneath the ice”; lyrics like this give me the same kind of images and feelings I get when I think of the concept of the Wanderer in the music of Paysage d’Hiver. Obviously different themes, but the existentialist core remains, that of a single person confronting his existence and his sense of being and being alone in an indifferent, cold world; that, and the sense of a journey, a goal towards something higher and greater. Frost Like Ashes know Who the goal is and they’re here to make sure you know it at the loudest possible volume imaginable. If you haven’t picked this one up, I definitely would say it should be on your must-own list.
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