Frozen Wreath ‎"Memento Mori" CD

Poem in „Halott ígéret” by József Attila, spoken by Latinovits Zoltán. Atmospheric Hungarian Black Metal!

Includes 8-page booklet.

Frozen Wreath caught my attention as one of the two members is Roland Neubauer, also known for his work with his bands Witcher and Vrag. Whenever he is involved in something you can be sure that the outcome is a wonderfully crafted piece of black metal with a dense mood and a lot of hypnotic harmonies woven into the sound. It seems that for the debut effort “Memento Mori” he only took over vocal duties while the instrumentation has been completely done by the second member Zoltan. This album has been released on Roland’s own label Filosofem records and in case you are familiar with the work of the mentioned outfits and like that kind of stuff you will feel right at home. Rich in texture and brooding with sinister, malicious energy, this is a release that asks for patience and undivided attention to fully spread its magic. At its core this is pretty straight forward Judas Iscariot or Burzum worship, but some of the harmonies drift into different dimensions and bring out new facets. From the beginning onwards you are bombarded with a lot of ideas and nicely constructed moments. Even subtle flirtation with almost post rock tendencies comes into play, lending the music a very special mood. Music like this is not so much about the straight-into-your-face power of crushing riffs, but more about the mood the harmonies are able to create. Frozen Wreath provide us with an amazingly flavorful album of black metal that is soaked in atmospheric elements and cold melody that result in a glorious amalgamation. The atmospheres throughout this album are simply tantalizing as they range from gorgeous pictures of winter woods under the starlit heavens to desolate landscapes and ancient ruins. This record is far from lacking in any of the categories that make atmospheric black metal so interesting at all, showing enough diversity throughout each song and tremendous musicianship across the board.
It could be argued that the riffs are pushed too much into the background, taking a bit away from the raw power black metal is known for. Also there are some longer drawn-out sections that might not be to everybody’s taste and can get tiresome, and to be perfectly honest I can understand where these critics are coming from. In some ways this is a quite fragile kind of music, and I personally also need to be in the right mood to fully get immersed. However, given the right circumstances albums like this are able to take me on a special journey. Sitting in the garden when the sun has gone down, staring into a campfire and sipping a nice dram of single malt while listening to this record is an experience I recommend to anyone with a bit of interest in this style.
The production is very restrained, with the rhythm guitars and the drums being pushed back within the mix. This gives the whole music a pretty raw and somehow unpolished sound, but not in a bad way. The main focus is on the brilliant motifs and melodies and on the trademark vocals by Roland, forming a perfect symbiosis to bring across the message and the intention of “Memento Mori”. Also the cover artwork is once again fantastic, something all Filosofem albums have in common. So all I can say is check this one out and decide how you feel about it and maybe you will enjoy it as much as myself.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...