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Frozen Gate are a band from Switzerland, which doesn’t bring up the image of black metal in the slightest. When I think of Switzerland, I think of Sybreed and Celtic Frost—one of the major pioneers of proto-black metal—but they are not on the top of my list for black metal. However, this band is relatively new—they have been active since 2013 and Behind the Dark Ice is their debut album—but the scheme of this album is ambitious, which says a lot about most black metal I have listened to.
Everything about Behind the Dark Ice screams “grandiose”: they have a black metal sound with a huge, orchestral and choral backing. It sounds cold, and the deafening wall of sound is enough to overwhelm the listener. The first two tracks, a two-parter of a piece named “Evangelium”, are impressive and reel the listener in to listen to the rest of the album. Each track is also a little over four minutes—with some exceptions—and they are laden thick with music that pulls you in. The orchestral backing is massively woven with black metal tonalities—the blast beats, the harsh vocals, and the frigid atmosphere that the music seems to evoke—creating a theatre of sound that uses every instrument and voice at their disposal. Xeonyr from Ne Obliviscaris and Roger Rüfenacht from Bloodstained Ground make appearances on the album, their respective appearances add flair to the music, and their vocals alone are enough to make their songs standouts.
Frozen Gate also doesn’t shy away from creating an atmosphere for each song. For example, “Enter the Gate” uses pounding drums to create an assault of sound before lapsing into softer sounds, generated by a guitar and a piano, before returning to the backing keyboards, vocals, and strings that give this album life. This is what true symphonic black metal should sound like: heavy, dark, and with enough orchestral power that could fill an entire concert hall. There is power behind Behind the Dark Ice and it shows just ambitious the band is about their music.
In short, Frozen Gate’s Behind the Frozen Ice is a grandiose yet stark album whose relentless power is impressive within its scale. This album is long—almost an hour of heavy, powerful music—and filled with gorgeous melodies. There is a lot to keep the listener engaged, but it runs risk of being repetitive. I am surprised the album didn’t falter the entire time I was listening to it, but it goes to show that the band wasn’t messing around when they decided to make their debut a powerful one. After all, sometimes, you have to go big or you go home.