With only one year away from the previous “Call Of The North”, Italians Frozen Crown return to the recording scene. Five albums in seven years of existence is a feat nowadays. At the same time they are quite active in terms of concerts and they inhabit all social media. I liked their previous album a lot, so I was looking forward to what I was going to listen.
On “War Hearts” Frozen Crown take a slight step back to their sound without this being a bad thing necessarily. Let me explain; if “Call Of The North” showed their more complex compositional side with relatively complex, as far as the genre allows, structures, in “War Hearts” they return to a more straightforward style. This is evident in the album’s song durations, which flirt with the four-minute mark, except for the longer “Ice Dragon”, which closes the album.
Thus, the band returns to a more joyful, melodic sound. The gears remain at full throttle with the pedal to the metal. Giada Etro may not be an impressive singer, but her voice blends seamlessly with the band’s material. At the same time, on this album the band features now three guitars, although I personally didn’t notice any difference in the outcome.
So, what remains from this album? To tell you the truth, I’m still whistling some melodies from “Call” as opposed to “War Hearts” which has catchy songs, but for some reason I wouldn’t say it’s their best material. Does it have any good moments? Of course! The title track, “Steel And Gold” and several others are well written, but sound very typical to my ears at the same time. That is, compositions that we’ve pretty much heard quite a bit of in the past.
Perhaps, my problem with the album is its simplicity, compared to its predecessor that I liked so much. I didn’t come across a song that would challenge me to listen to it again before moving on to the next one.
So “War Hearts” may be a, by the numbers, good album but I hardly think it will be remembered in the long run.
