Frightful - What Lies Ahead

Godz ov War Productions bring forth another Death Thrash effort from the Polish band known as Frightful. While this group used to be a Death Grind band, one can still hear traces in their speedy delivery on their 2nd full length album “What Lies Ahead.” Almost a foretelling of the shift in change, one can expect a mix of what sounds like Death meets almost Necrophobic as the band bounces between Death, Black, and Thrash Metal for a solid, catchy outing. While not blistering fast like their Grindcore days, the music is still striaightforward and to the point by making it a guitar and vocal focused record. The riffs from Pawl Snarski and Eryk Jakubczyk on a track like ‘Discarnate Sower’ demonstrate the two know how to create fast and yet ‘hooky’ to bring that Dew Scented groove to the music while still retaining that Death styled speed. The vocals from Oskar Wanka are discernible and a mid ranged throaty snarl that isn’t too high pitched or guttural, again appealing to either Black or Death Metal listeners. And the drums when they aren’t burying the bass by Krzysztof Pochranowicz have that solid hit that switches between machine gun battery rounds and Hate Eternal percussive click.

Most of the tracks here start out fast and end fast, but some like the title track lure listeners in with some acoustic, almost somber bits before taking off. A nice change of pace for the Frightful, the band never really reach pit stirring frenzy like bands such as Nile can do, but keep that mid to fast paced tone throughout the album to let fans know they still mean business. The guitars have some of the best moments their more melodic styled solos when considering a track like ‘No Fear’ or ‘Inexplicable’ as they take the near Neoclassic Heavy Metal sound that is almost Melodeath tinged in the likes of Exmortus and break away from the usual Thrash expectation set by Exodus or Slayer. Yes, the riffs are catchy and fun but it is the solos that really show the talent of what Frightful can do in their Death Thrash capabilities especially when considering a track like ‘Into Phantom Hearts’ which just has that enjoyable ‘bounce’ to it. For a more straightforward Thrash tinged track, ‘ Farewell’ is a great choice with more speed and less of a melodic approach.

‘Cathedral of Creation’ is where the band experiments more with the almost horn sounding sections amongst the riffs, and this album probably could have garnered more praise if they had done more of stuff like that. Frightful already have established themselves away from mediocrity with their focus on solos aside from just riffs like a Slayer clone, but like many in the Thrash genre after a bit the tracks can sound the same, and it needs little ‘oomphs’ like these to elevate it and make them stand out so each track is memorable and unique. Still, despite not enough ‘oomph,’ to the closing ‘Inexplicable’ fans are left with a very fast, yet full album delivery that will leave them wanting more. Whether one is into melodic solos or fast biting vocals amongst pit driving riffs, “What Lies Ahead” is a great indicator for Frightful’s career to show they made a good genre ship jump and will probably garner more fans with their sound in the future.

3.5 / 5 STARS