Crowhead – Frozen (2002)

Unvinyl #15

Some records, revisited in hindsight years after their release, may sound like unfinished business. Not half-baked, but in the sense of possibility: albums that seem to point toward something larger, more personal. They might sound good, even very good in some cases, while hinting that the best is yet to come. ‘Frozen’, debut album by Norwegian band Crowhead, is a record where this theory is easily applicable.

It appeared almost out of nowhere on My Kingdom Records in 2002 – the first release ever by this now long-standing Italian label – and even if the band name didn’t ring a bell, the people behind it were far from inexperienced. The main duo of singer Jo-Inge Slangsvold and guitarist Rym Trinborg (also a longtime member of black metal outfit Ragnarok) had already crossed paths in the gothic metal band Shadow Dancers, while producers and programmers Rico Darum and Ted Skogmann came from the orbit of Apoptygma Berzerk. An intriguing combination that produced a melancholic, stylistically shifting album that refused to sit in one box.

In my review back then, I wrote that anyone with a weakness for melancholic sounds would struggle not to appreciate it, and I still stand by that. Gothic metal, darkwave, electronica overtones, even something close to EBM in its remix-heavy tail end: ‘Frozen’ moves across several territories, yet what keeps it together is the mood more than the genre. That bittersweet melancholy runs through everything, from the opening hints of bands like Entwine and Sentenced to the more overtly wave-oriented turns of the title track, ‘Fire Eye’ or ‘Eternity’, and the moodier introspection of ‘Love Letter’, which brought Anathema to mind.

When I interviewed Jo-Inge Slangsvold around the time of its release, he made it clear that Crowhead had been conceived as a different kind of outlet from his previous band: “In Crowhead I don’t need to listen to the opinions of others”, he said. “I feel free to do what I want, to write music the way I think it should be understood”. And such freedom is probably what gives ‘Frozen’ its slightly unpredictable shape.

The influences were not exactly a secret. Slangsvold spoke openly about his love for the ’80s, citing albums like ‘Pornography’ by The Cure, alongside Duran Duran and The Sisters of Mercy. “The music of those years was permeated by a magical aura that is still intact today”, he said. “We try to write melodies capable of communicating emotions”. When I told him that his vocal approach, especially on songs like ‘Eternity’ or the refrain of ‘Mad Man’, reminded me of Simon Le Bon, he was flattered, but begged to differ: “I like Duran Duran a lot, but I wouldn’t say my style is really that close to Simon Le Bon’s. Still, I take it as a great compliment. I try to develop a style of my own and bring all my influences into it”. All in all, there were moments where the references came through very clearly, as the band’s own identity seemed not to always be fully in focus yet, but the songs were strong enough to make that secondary.

Unfortunately, the promise was never really fulfilled. While it looked like a very solid starting point, ‘Frozen’ remained the band’s one and only full-length release, as they more or less disappeared before the next step could properly unfold. Crowhead never turned into what this album hinted they might become, but the best parts of ‘Frozen’ are still very much worth rediscovering. Of course, it’s never too late for a follow-up: stranger things have happened.

Chances of vinylization: Not impossible. My Kingdom Records has embraced the vinyl format a lot over the last five years, both for new material and re-releases.

🟥 Unvinyl is a series of articles about great music not available on vinyl (at the time of writing). A full index can be found here.