Danish "stress metallers", as they preferred calling themselves, released 'Dimensions', their only full length album, in 1996. The band said that this was influenced by 1980s thrash metal and contemporary death metal (that'll be 1995-1996 then). Hmmm, Danish death metal, at least how I see most of it, is HEAVY. Illdisposed, Panzerchrist, Iniquity, you name it...

This is bloody heavy, too! 'Dimensions' is more a death metal album than a thrash metal one. Sturdy riffage in vein of 'Leprosy' (1988) era Death built on even more sturdy rhythms is what Frozen Sun offer here. Well, not just like 'Leprosy' alone, but simply put this is made of simplistic riffs and driving rhythms. Gorefest's newer, less melodic songs might sound a bit like this, actually. Occasional oppressive melodies are usually presented in guitar leads and solos. I'd say this is 80% death metal, 15% thrash metal and 5% hardcore attitude. So, from the thrash metal point-of-view this somewhat reminds me of Overkill's 'W.F.O.' (1994) and Demolition Hammer, thanks to its driving songs and massively heavy production, and Forbidden and early Machine Head, thanks to those oppressive melodic bits. So, in all this sounds very North American. What degrades the interestingness of the album is the similarity of the material and the fact, that some of the songs are way too long. "Stressing" in a negative way, kind of. On the other hand, on some of the songs the band decided to go for something else than those age-old straight tempos, and created some rhythmic twists to keep a listener interested. The album sounds best when listened in short stubs, because listening randomly all the songs actually make it sound good and effective, and when listening thoroughly on one sitting, it can get boring at times. But that depends on listener's mood, of course.

The vocals are more death metal. It's growling all the way through, reminding me of old L-G Petrov (Entombed) style a bit, but is lower in its tone. Sometimes vocal tracks are piled to create more inhuman voices, but generally the words are comprehensible. Which brings me to the lyrics... All are about reality. Warring, bad human relations, sick pervert killers ('Puss Gore 'n' Decay' carries very sick lyrics indeed), modern fucked up societies, and such takes of real fucking fucked up life. The sound is great: Grinding guitar tone builds a massive wall of guitars, heavy-as-heck bass and drums, and above all, mostly natural vocals.

The performances are good throughout, the sound crushes with its weight, and the rhythmics will surely result some neck damage. However, the sameness of the song material makes this album just a curiosity, not a must. Definitely worth the inspection, though, if you enjoy riff-laden, rhythmic take on death metal with both feet in reality. Do not fear about that ugly cover art!

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
11/26/2007 20:38