Review FROZEN GASP ‚Mourning Moon‘

‚Mourning Moon‘ is the debut album of a band called Frozen Gasp. The Boston-based outfit released with Baptism of Desire‘ and ‚Hauntin Whispers‘ already two EP‘s, leading to a deal with Relapse Records.

Musically, Frozen Gasp works in the fields of dark rock and metal. On the one hand I was reminded of some doom metal bands, while the gothic vibe reflects bands like Unto Others. Not to forget Killing Joke as a source of inspiration for the band. Here and there I even had to think of Fields Of Nephilim while listening to ‚Mourning Moon‘.

The story behind the debut is the story about loss in general while the title refers to times when you lay in bed and your thoughts go wild. What could I have done different? What decisions do I regret? What haven‘t I done and what should I have done? These thoughts are just spinning in your head and ‚Mourning Moon‘ is build in such a situation.

Although being kept together by the overarching musical approach I mentioned, the songs on this record mirror a versatile approach. There is the interlude ‚Seize‘; an instrumental that introduces the fast ‚Blood and Sulphur‘ which tells the story in less than two minutes. Then there is ‚Homebound‘ which is with more than five minutes the longest song on the album. Catchiness and a darkened vibe characterize a song with a cinematic expression.

In general though, Frozen Gasp don‘t get lost in complex sound constructs. They follow a more to the point approach which is reflected in ‚14 Gates‘. Still provided with a soul-touching expression and a clever break the song never drowns in extend twists. ‚Rows of Heaven‘ is the final track on this very interesting debut and sums up what have been heard before.

‚Mourning Moon‘ is an exciting debut. It will be interesting to follow the future evolvement of this six-piece since there are a lot of first good signals in place with this debut.