Review: Frozen Wreath – Mea Culpa

Introduction

Frozen Wreath, a two-man black metal outfit out of Hungary, released their second full album Mea Culpa. They play atmospheric black metal and with the days getting shorter and the weather getting more grim, this album suits that atmosphere very well.

One of the band members of this outfit may be known to some of you, since he’s one of the forces behind the black metal band WitcheR. I’m pretty familiar with that band, so let’s see what Frozen Wreath delivers with their second album.

Mea Culpa

With a run time of almost 50 minutes, it has a decent runtime. Long albums are okay, but they need to grab my attention and keep it hooked to the album, this new album delivers on that front throughout the album. Mea Culpa oozes atmosphere from the beginning to the end and because there is enough variation in the tracks, you keep on listening. Not everyone has that problem, of course, with longer albums, but for me personally, it’s nice to see that there is enough variation to keep my mind busy.

As said, this album oozes atmosphere and the folk elements incorporated into the album, and they set a great mood throughout the entire album. Along with the folk elements, what also binds it together is the production of the albums, the instruments are mixed well (on headphones and speakers) and the vocals sound great.

I enjoyed listening to the album a few times and I never had the feeling I was bored, or done with the album. Listen to the two tracks mentioned below in the highlight section for an introduction to what this album is all about.

One of the highlights of the album is the first track “Az én vétkem” which translates to “My Fault” in English. If you have to listen to one song on the album to get a feeling what it brings to the table this is the track. It just breathes atmosphere. All the lyrics are in Hungarian, but the translations are available on the metal archive website. I enjoy reading those because it gives me a sense what the song is about and why a song sounds the way it does.

Through my fault, through my fault,
Through my most grievous fault,
My only sin was
Hating life…

Lyrics from Az én vétkem, Translated to English

Another track I truly enjoyed is the third track “Vénülő kezek” which translates to “Ageing Hands” it’s the longest track on the album with a run time of 9 minutes and 45 seconds. And it managed to grab my attention for the entire span of the song. The lyrics are nice (as said, I’ve looked them up on MA) and it is the story telling of an old man halfway through the song is a nice change.

Life carved deep valleys in my ageing hands,
Tears no longer help my distorted reflection,
I slowly wither, as the budding flower will on my grave,
Evil joke from life that the whole thing is just dying…

Lyrics from Vénülő kezek, Translated to English.

Conclusion

Just listen to the album and give it a try, I’m pretty sure plenty of folks would love it. Is it the best album of the year? Perhaps not for everyone, but it’s a decent contender. And Frozen Wreath deserves all the attention it can get.

You can give it a try via the YouTube video below, and if you like what you hear, don’t forget to support the artists and buy the album.

Feedback, BMP & BMZ links:

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