HeavyHardMetalmania: FROSTWORK "Frozen Veins Shed No Blood" Another Storm On The Way!

The Rites Of Winter : The First Storm
Frostwork is a British Black Metal band formed by Dagon of Heathen Deity in 2007 as a way of personal expressionism.

In 2008 Frostwork released the first demo The Rites of Winter: The First Storm.

In 2008 "Shades of Grey" a track taken from The Rites Of Winter: The First Storm, Also appeared on the "Union Black" compilation of British black metal bands, released on Coup de Grace Records.

Frostwork
Country of origin:United Kingdom
Status:Active
Year of creation:2007
Genre:Ambient/Black Metal
Lyrical themes:Nature, Winter, Coldness
Current label:Unsigned/independent

The Rites of Winter: The First Storm
Type:Demo
Release date:March 15th, 2008
Label:Self-released/independent
First 50 copies signed

1. Into the Woods (Intro)
2. Shades of Grey
3. The Storm
4. The Rites of Winter
5. Eyes of the Forest

in:ARCHAIC MAGAZINE

By Ellen Simpson on April 12th, 2008

The Rites of Winter – The First Storm

"Frostwork began under the cloak of anonymity, which was fairly cool and mysterious, until the general public started to ponder the matter, and, as founder Dagon puts it, “seemed to have opted for Dani Filth”. He describes this as “puzzling”, whereas I would be temped call it “a nightmare and an insult rolled into one”. Actually it is puzzling, because Dagon can force his voice into the sorts of uncanny and inhuman places that Britain’s metal midget hasn’t even dreamed of for the past decade. So… clean your ears out, Myspace listeners, and grow an imagination.

“The Rites of Winter” is the first outing for Frostwork, as indicated by the secondary title,”The First Storm”. Dagon’s other primary project is Heathen Deity, a rude and raw black metal act with bundles of religious hatred and plenty of inspirations from the ‘first wave’. I can understand why he wanted to separate the two in people’s minds; there isn’t a shadow of a doubt that Frostwork is black metal to its soulless core, all buzz-saw guitars, howling and growling, but at the same time the five songs on offer here present a different approach, and quite a different aura, to Dagon’s other work.

“Into the Woods” opens this demo with the sound of thunder and rain, underscored by deep, cold, acoustic guitar, and while this arrangement does not last, it hints at the more ambient approach- where ambient means that the feeling of the sound is more important than individual note structures- that is being taken here. I wouldn’t want to suggest that this is gentle and sparse, or electronic in nature- far from it. “The Rites of Winter” is noisy, and in places distractingly messy, but at the same time it means to summon a feeling as well as to present black metal songs, involving all the coldness of winter, and grimness of ice.

“Storm” is my favourite track, beginning low and clean, with a thoughtful male choir sound, before introducing the buzzing, distorted guitar as a balanced co-partner in the mix. I think this song best encapsulates the feel of the demo as a whole, and perhaps what Dagon is trying to achieve. The other tracks also contain interesting ideas, especially the epic-sounding closer, “Eyes of the Forest”. I’ve already mentioned the howling, screeching vocal performance, which suits the grim sound very well, but there are some pleasing moments in the drum department too. This catches the attention as a demo; a more fully-developed and cleanly produced album-length release would be a very welcome addition to my collection."

The Storm

COMPILATION APPEARENCES
Union Black Vol.1 x2 CD Comp (2008) CDG Records
CD2
1. Shades Of Grey

Members
Dagon - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Programing (Heathen Deity, ex-Hecate Enthroned)

Former Members
Fordervelse - Session Drums (Koldbrann, Arvas)

Dagon is currently writing and recording the next Frostwork release at his home studio in Derbyshire, England of which this track "Frozen Veins Shed No Blood" (below) is taken.

Experience the ice and snow forming in your eyes as your life fades into the woods, you will feel no pain as " Frozen Veins Shed No Blood"