Early Sonata Arctica was once described to this scribe as being similar to “a bunch of Kindergartners running wild during playtime.” Such was the level of saccharine in their sound. The Finns have gradually abandoned their manic power metal forays and replaced them with a less-effective brand of mid-tempo metal, but as we’ve come to learn with metal, there’s always someone waiting in the wings to replicate the sound of yore, which Italy’s Frozen Crown comes close to doing on their The Fallen King debut.
Formed in Milan in 2017, Frozen Crown’s rather quick output is of a slick, well-produced nature; really the direct hit on what sleek Euro power metal should be. The dueling vocals of Giada “Jade” Etro (also of Ashes You Leave, the same band that produced Luka Petrović of Old Night) and founding member Federico Mondelli provide somewhat of a twist on the old formula. Etro, as you would expect is soft and ably-melodic on “Fail No More” and the punchy “Kings,” while the more standard, beer hall-stomp of “I Am the Tyrant” is where Mondelli takes command, showing that at the core, it’s awfully difficult to stay away from the core power metal tenants. Further explorations of the kind come via “The Shieldmaiden,” “Queen of Blades” and “Across the Sea.”
Just about the textbook execution of the Euro power metal sound, Frozen Crown, in their vim and vigor, pep and persuasion, turn in a dependable, but often predictable debut with The Fallen King. May this stuff never be in fashion again.