Originally coming to prominence as a founding member of metal band Gods Of Decay, the artist known as Frost launched a solo career in 2023 under the moniker Godfrost, immediately creating waves the following year with his debut album. For his next move, Godfrost releases a five-track EP titled Hanging Doll via American independent label Brustal Records, a selection of songs that fuse heavy metal and gothic rock in rarely heard ways, resulting in an EP that will only serve to heighten his standing within the global underground.
Introduced by a staccato riff, opening track Nefarious is akin to a break in a matrix or a machine short-circuiting. It’s a discombobulating beginning, and one which casts black magic over the listener before the spell is suddenly broken by a riff that arrives with wrecking ball swing. The production is huge and employs the full dynamic range, the sound stretched to the very edge of your speakers, which adds to the grandiose aesthetic; Nefarious evoking the feeling of something so vast it can barely be comprehended. The instruments are played with mechanical precision, and whilst the vocals are often equally cold and clinical, at other times they are warm and tender and this creates a neat tension of opposites between the mechanical and organic, each acting as a foil to highlight and enhance the other. These are themes and motifs that will echo throughout this EP, making each of these five tracks interconnected and interlocking, meaning Hanging Doll is pieced together like a jigsaw and while it is quite permissible to dip in and out and enjoy each track individually, it is best consumed whole to fully appreciate how it all slots together.
Instilling a creeping sense of unease within the listener, in much the same way a good horror film will, there’s a cinematic quality to tracks such as Bloodcurdling Scream, each being a vignette vividly evoking a moment in time and filmed in glorious monochrome. Hanging Doll is an EP that’s in constant motion and alternates between dense blocks of sonics and stark white spaces, each repositioning you and forcing your reevaluation. As alluded to before, the vocals are an integral part of the Hanging Doll experience; they become another instrument and enhance the overarching glacial feel.
Final song Season’s End is a semi-acoustic number that serves a cleansing purpose. After the industrial blasts of the preceding tracks, Season’s End stands apart, the whimsical vocals acting as a soothing balm; it’s a (gothic) lullaby with which to depart and brings a sense of closure. But it’s a conclusion that poses as many questions as it answers and gives no clue as to what Godfrost’s next musical move might be.
Tracklisting:
1. Nefarious
2. Escape From Reality
3. Hanging Doll
4. Bloodcurdling Scream
5. Season’s End
The EP is available worldwide across major digital music platforms. The CD edition is released as a premium digipak, with an 8-page booklet with lyrics and four exclusive bonus tracks. There is also a vinyl edition available on demand via Brutal Records.
