Here is the link to the review: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/62637/Frozen-Dawn-Those-of-the-Cursed-Light/
'Those of the Cursed Light' is the second album from this Spanish black
metal act which has been around since 2006. The first band that comes to
your mind is obviously the unmistakable Dissection but then we haven’t
heard any such bands of late, save for a couple of exceptions, in this
decade at least. Dissection itself hasn’t sounded the same, like it did
on say the groundbreaking 'Storm Of The Light’s Bane'. Only
Sacramentum’s outstanding album 'Far Away From The Sun' gave it any
competition, but both bands paled with time. There were many clones, but
they dried up too, like Naglfar among others.
Frozen Dawn isn’t as vicious; it’s keeping it textbook, but simplifying
things the way old school death/black metal has been simplified these
days. It doesn’t necessary imply a dumbing down of the music, simply
that it’s more to-the-point, effective but it also means it’s less
ambitious and of course original. One could argue whether people now
would have the attention span to listen to long, winding songs when they
have bands going straight for the jugular, and to that end this band
works very well. It’s also reminiscent of other Swedish death
metal-inclined bands such as the first Necrophobic, Unanimated albums
but they seem to have lost that charm they originally had. Even the
original ones can’t carry on or match up to the classics, so it wouldn’t
be fair to compare the newer ones for falling short.
'Those of the Cursed Light' is a solid album. It gets the job done.
Frozen Dawn is like any other competent old school death/black metal
band of this decade. There are moments when Watain comes to mind when it
slows down, but it’s firmly rooted in the melodic Dissection-style of
music, which is heart-warming and chilly at the same time. It’s keeping
it real, so to speak, aesthetically. It’s evident looking at the album
artwork and the production is pristine as well in that regard. Its
drawback is that the riffing isn’t exceptionally catchy or memorable -
it's standard, good even, but nothing like say Dissection or
Sacramentum. But that’s like expecting Amorphis-level of riffing circa
‘Tales From The Thousand Lakes’.
Is it worthy of your money? If the description sounds right up your
alley, it is. If you’re looking for something original or
classic-surpassing, then no. I’ve been listening to this album on repeat
and it’s worthy déja vu, something that can only be cherished because
few have the competence any more to recreate even an iota of that
classic ‘90s magic.
