Name: Frozen Soul at Growlers - Memphis,TN
Start: 2024-08-08T19:30:00-05:00
Location: 1911 Poplar Ave Memphis TN 38104

Thursday August 8th, 2024
6:30PM DOORS / 7:30PM SHOW
$20 ADV / $25 DOS
ALL AGES

Frozen Soul
Creeping Death
Gates to Hell
Enforced

A chilling wind pours through land once again. “We tried to do something thattouches on the classics of old school death metal while trying to progress in ourabilities. We wanted to write songs that are fun and catchy but still give you thekick you need to get moving.” says FROZEN SOUL vocalist Chad Green on theTexas titans’ sophomore album, Glacial Domination. “I think we created a recordthat will do that while standing the test of time.”Glacial Domination is the sound of a new ice age born from the underground metalscene. It’s a cold breath of mammoth riffage, flesh-peeking guitars and bonechilling vocalizations that push with glacial force beyond the genre-definingstandard of FROZEN SOUL’s 2021 landmark album, Crypt of Ice. While the Dallasborn band may have only played their first gig in 2019, in a short amount of time,their fierce and theatrical take on old school death metal has won them worldwidefans, friends, and opening slots for personal heroes including Dying Fetus,Obituary and Napalm Death.No one is more surprised than the band themselves. “We've been lucky enoughto accomplish more in just a couple years than a lot of bands get to do in adecade. We've put in a ton of hard work and it's crazy to think about how farthis has come!” says Chad. “We’ve toured with some of our favorite bands, playedsome incredible shows, and met some incredible people.” One of those luminariesbeing Trivium mainman Matt Heafy, who the band became friends with, and whothen became a natural choice to co-produce Glacial Domination.“At first, we wanted to make a FROZEN SOUL record, something like Crypt of Ice.”says Chad. “What we got wasn’t what we expected but, in the end, it was exactlywhat we wanted.” From the unexpected opening thrash-blast of “InvisibleTormentor” to the lumbering chug of “Morbid Effigy” (which features Dying Fetus’John Gallagher) all the way through the icepick-like hooks of “Abominable”, this isFROZEN SOUL on another tundra. “Having Matt Heafy in our corner wasincredibly fun and an amazing experience.” the frontman explains. “Matt brought aperspective that was really refreshing, for us to push ourselves and trust ourinstincts. Also, to focus on the positives and have fun. That helped us pushthrough the boundaries we’ve set for ourselves to create something we feel is trulyspecial.”The making of Glacial Domination was far from easy for the band. While FROZENSOUL began compiling riffs and song ideas, Green was faced with an almostinsurmountable and tragic challenge: the death of his younger brother, Cory. Aloss felt throughout the whole band that was molded into the pummeling andanthemic powerhouse of a record that is Glacial Domination. Two of the songs thatshowcase that manifested rage are, "Arsenal of War" and "Death and Glory". Bothfeature guest vocals by Green's younger brother Josh, while "Arsenal of War''features additional guest vocals by Texas' own Reese Avali from Dallas death metalbrethren Creeping Death as well as Power Trip / Fugitive axeman Blake Ibanezadding his trademark divebombs. “Writing this record helped me cope with loss,especially writing lyrics with my brother Josh.” says Chad. “There were times whilemaking this record where I didn’t think I was going to be able to get through it.Luckily, I had my band and family to have my back, I got to a point of revelationwhere I realized that I needed to pick myself up and manifest this pain into aweapon and do something positive". That is exactly what FROZEN SOUL's "Arsenalof War" is, a storm of arrows to carry a conquering light into the darkness. "Ihardly had any lyrics before my brother’s passing, then it turned around, all thepain started pouring out of me, my brother’s spirit is all over this record.Glacial Domination is a breakthrough and turning point for the Dallas-based 5-piece (rounded out by guitarists Michael Munday and Chris Bonner, bassistSamantha Mobley and drummer Matt Dennard) who have constructed a deathmetal masterstroke in the spirit of genre-accelerating classics includingCarcass’ Heartwork or Entombed’s Wolverine Blues. “There’s more range to myvoice,” says Chad. “We added more in the ways of solos and harmonies, harderhitting choruses. Sam even played a theremin on the record! We took time to thinkeverything through. Even though. It's hard for me to say, I think we madesomething that is going to make a difference in the world of heavy music andmetal.” The band also credits Crypt of Ice producer and mixer Daniel Schmuck,who returned for Glacial Domination, to help them attain new pinnacles of theirself-described “Cold-School Death Metal” mastery. “Having Daniel involved wasessential,” says Green. “He knows us better than anyone. He played in FROZENSOUL early on, he's one of my best friends and we couldn't have done this withouthim, his input helped make these songs what they are.”Even though their home state of Texas is better known for heat waves than wintrywinds, there’s no mistaking FROZEN SOUL’s fixation, lyrically and otherwise, on allthings arctic. Tracks like “Best Served Cold '' speak to the band’s chilly zeitgeist.There’s no question that the album’s title track is an anthem to death’s coldembrace. “It is the most adventurous song that we have ever written,” says Chad.“’Glacial Domination’ was a song that we co-wrote with Heafy. It was a scary songfor us to write. It shows a lot of growth in a direction that was foreign to whereFROZEN SOUL started out but ended up being one that was pretty natural and oneof the catchiest songs we have ever written” The back-to-back wallop of “FrozenSoul” and “Assimilator” elaborates on the band’s bone-chilling vision, seenthrough John Carpenter’s sci-fi/horror classic, The Thing. “That’s one of my alltime favorite movies – and it works on so many unforgiving levels.” says Chad.“Aside from being about this alien organism that won't die, and absorbs otherbeings into itself, there’s so much stuff that that movie touches on. It touches ondepression and paranoia – stuff that we have always touched upon. Not knowingwho you can trust and who your friends and family really are.”The album’s final track, “Nuclear Winter” draws inspiration from the proverbialKing of All Monsters, Godzilla. “Musically, that song is a slobber-knocker-fest!”Chad laughs. “It’s literally a hard riff into another hard riff, into a slower harder riff,just an ass-whoopin' through and through! It sounds like Godzilla fighting all theother titans at once! Lyrically, it’s from the point of view of someone standing inthe middle of all of it all! As you can tell, we're big fans of monsters andcreatures!”FROZEN SOUL emerged in 2018 from Green’s tenure in metallic hardcore bands,Vulgar Display and End Times. The frontman’s hardcore intents gave way to thrashand death metal roots and an obsession with the old school sounds of BoltThrower, Mortician and Obituary. “I was working at a comic shop at the time,playing a ton of Magic: The Gathering and I met Michael (Munday), and we begantalking about starting a death metal band. Then, Daniel [Schmuck] got in the mix,initially as a guitarist for End Times, and FROZEN SOUL became our focus.”Initially released in early 2019 on Maggot Stomp Records, FROZEN SOUL’sEncased in Ice 4-song-demo-turned-EP was the first howl of the arctic force tocome. The band immediately cemented their icy grip opening as DFW death metalcontenders for Necrot and Blood Incantation. “We had quite a few people from ourhometown at that show that had no idea we were a local band asking where wewere touring from,” recounts Chad. By Summer, the quintet had hit the road,touring through the West Coast pulling double duty every night with End Times,then hitting the Midwest with crossover thrashers, Plague Years. In between,FROZEN SOUL solidified their hometown presence with a steady diet of local gigswith the likes of Gatecreeper, Obituary, Vader and Exhumed before hitting the icyroads of the East Coast with death thrashers, Steel Bearing Hand in January 2020,playing to packed rooms including Brooklyn’s legendary Saint Vitus. With everyshow, the band became a more glacial wall of sound and snow-machine enhancedatmosphere.An unexpected call from Century Media found FROZEN SOUL inking a worldwidedeal with the label. Pundits including Brooklyn Vegan had pegged the band for oneof the most anticipated metal albums of 2020. With Steel Bearing Hand bassistChris Bonner added to rhythm guitar, FROZEN SOUL entered the studio withSchmuck handling production and mixing duties. The reception to the band’s firstfull length was nothing short of unanimous: “The standout death metal statementof 2021,” said Invisible Oranges. When FROZEN SOUL emerged from the globalpandemic to hit the road for seven weeks in North America with labelmatesSanguisugabogg, they found themselves playing to sold-out rooms and beinghailed as one of the leading forces of death metal’s next generation. They evenhave incited their own mosh-pit tradition: where fans stop and do mid-song push-ups! “One of our friends did that at a Dallas show and it became a thing when avideo of it went viral!” Green laughs. “It definitely inspires us to stay motivated to ahealthier lifestyle!”Now, on the verge of their next chapter, the frigid force of FROZEN SOUL’s glacialassault is about to be felt beyond the realms of death metal’s ardent cognoscenti.While preparing for months of roadwork in the U.S. and abroad, they’re alsoplanning the third installment of Dallas’ Wrecking Ball Metal Madness, a nowannual festival conceived and curated by the band and crew. “It’s all beenunexpected and surpassed anything we could have possibly imagined,” says Chad.“We’ve all pushed ourselves to the edge and back and taken a ton of risks. All inthe name of old, I mean, cold school death metal.