Frosttide – Decedents

[schema type=”review” name=”Frosttide – Decedents” description=”Label: Self-released” author=”Basak Günel” pubdate=”2018-05-18″ ]

Frosttide are a three-piece melodic/folk metal band from Finland. Formed in 2009, the band became known slowly but steadily with EPs, two full-length releases and various live shows with big acts such as Korpiklaani, Sabaton, Turisas and Ensiferum. Despite having gone through line-up changes in 2016, the band is going strong! They will release their brand new album soon. However, they gave another fine news in-between and announced the release of an EP called “Decedents” which is out this month. 

Those who follow Frosttide from the beginning know that the band’s sound has been about epicness with elements from death, folk and symphonic metal. However, with “Decedents”, I feel that the band is slowly moving into a new direction by leaving aside the epicness and the folk elements (which, I think, is a good decision) and focusing more on symphonic and death metal elements.

When it comes to the style and sound, Frosttide’s essence remains the same; great riffs, aggressive and brutal vocals and nice orchestral arrangements. There is a technical vibe to it this time as well; the pace gets faster at times with melodic and fast riffs or with the arrangements. With this new direction, I see more development as well. I mean… this might be a short EP but the atmospheric opening with “Ocean’s Peace” is indeed enough to spark your interest! This also got me thinking; a bit of atmosphere would suit the band’s essence so well. One thing that is sadly recognizable is the production; although we can see that the band knows what they are doing with a clear vision and concepts, the production is a bit fuzzy and not so professional. The choirs, for example, are lost. Depending on which aspect is the most important for you in a release, this might either be the buzzkiller or not disturb you at all.

“Decedents” is a promising EP and definitely recommended for the lovers of death/symphonic metal but also Finnish folk metal in general. Although the band needs some fine-tuning productionwise, this EP is enough to get the listeners curious about the upcoming album. Let’s wait and see.

Highlight: Carved Into Ice

EP Line-up:
Juho Patinen – vocals, guitar
Joonas Nislin – drums
Felipe Munoz – keyboards, backing vocals

Tracklist 1. Ocean’s Peace 2. Tranquility 3. Carved Into Ice 4. Final Hour 5. Revenant

Links:
Frosttide Official
Frosttide Facebook