Man it’s cold outside fellow Otaku & Metalheads!
If you recall towards the end last year, I assaulted my blog with a 3-pronged assault about the obscure & weeby Power Metal team from Finland known as Everfrost. They were at my no. 2 spot on my top 5 albums of 2019 list (Which you can read here), and they stood alongside Rammstein for being an album worthy to close out the 2010s (Which you can read here). However, what I didn’t realize at the time was that I was listening to their second record. Not long after discovering Winterider, I also came across the release that put them on the map, Blue Eyed Emotion. In an odd way, these two albums are like night and day, and because of that, I’m going back to my more relaxed approach of looking at a record. I felt that if I used my standard/more formal format for reviews, I don’t think I would be able to put my thought together properly. Anyways, let’s get to it!
I should make mention of one thing: the band on Blue Eyed Emotion is different from what would appear on Winterider. We still have Benji Connelly (Nicknamed Benjamin Snowkid on this release), as well as Markus Laito, but the only other band member is vocalist Hew Wagner. We have a 3-man band this time around as opposed to 5, and this would simultaneously be a benefit & hindrance in disguise.
Unfortunately, before I get to praising this record, I got to complain about some things. First, Blue Eyed Emotion comes across as the more amateur of the two records. Amateur in production, recording, instrumentation, and vocal work (More on that in a bit). Now, I’m not saying that Everfrost were incompetent in any way, cause they sure as hell aren’t! Benjamin Snowkid is great on the drums, guitars, keyboards, and arrangements, and Markus Laito is fantastic on lead guitar & vocals. Even Hew Wagner does a good job as the lead singer. Everybody on here knows what they’re doing, and they show that they can hang with the big boys pretty damn well.
Since I’m talking about the band, I may as well talk about Hew Wagner. Now, I don’t think he’s a bad singer. If anything, I think he has a genuinely beastly set of vocal pipes! He can hit pretty high when he sets his mind to it, and he’d probably be able to shatter most of the glass in a cathedral. My only problems with his singing is that he’s in the higher ranges almost constantly, which is annoying for songs that feel like they needed a lower volume. In addition to that, there are times where he gets so loud it almost sounds like he’s straining. I may be mishearing things in that regard, but I swear I hear his voice crack once in a while. Again, maybe it’s just me.
Availability is another fault to this album’s name. While Winterider you can find on both Amazon & their bandcamp in both physical & digital forms, Blue Eyed Emotion can only be found digitally on Amazon, and in both versions on their bandcamp page. I’m a firm believer in physical media, and that doubly applies to music. In their defense, the record company at the time of it’s original release was fairly small, so I can see why you can only find it directly from them. Once I get the cash scrounged up, I might just buy it from them when I get the chance! Nothing else to say in this department.
Perhaps one of the more frustrating issues I have with Blue Eyed Emotion would be it’s storytelling and characters. Not that they don’t suck, cause they don’t. Not that they weren’t written well, because they were. My issue with the story and characters is that things are told and displayed in a far more cryptic matter. On my first listen through last year I didn’t know how things were progressing, and who was where & such. Listening to the album more & more made it far easier to piece events together, and it was easier to figure out who the characters were as well as their motivations. Winterider was a considerable upgrade in this regard, as the storytelling & characters were considerably more clear and understandable.
And finally, my biggest issue with Blue Eyed Emotion is that it is one of the most emotionally heavy records I’ve ever listened to. While Winterider was certainly heavy in terms of the emotional aspect (If you’ve listened to Whisper In A Frozen Tale, you’ll know what I mean), at the very least there was a cushion to fall on thanks to the more lighthearted songs. On this release, there is no safety net to fall on after getting kicked in the feels crotch. Even the concluding track, despite it’s mild usage of happy, will grab you by the nuts and twist really hard. Blue Eyed Emotion is a far more serious and grey album than what their second release would be, and it was really surprising upon my first listening to. Even if I did listen to their discography in order I would still get whiplash, but for somewhat different reasons.
So with all of this complaining I’ve done, you’re probably thinking I hate this album. No! Far from it in fact! I love this album! I may not enjoy it as much as Winterider, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it at all! I’ll be repeating myself towards the end of the review, but much like the previously mentioned album above, Blue Eyed Emotion rightfully earns a 9 out of 10! The band is giving it their all, as the instrumentation & vocal work is pretty top notch, and while the storytelling is more cryptic & it’s confusing as to who’s who, it is easy to follow once you figure things out. Like their second release, their love & muse that is anime and manga shines through, and they don’t give two festering shits what the critics say. It’s that kind of attitude that’s kept me endeared to Everfrost, and for every release to come that endearment will just get stronger.
Ironically enough, my favorite track happens to possibly be the most emotionally heavy song on the album. Opening up this frosty behemoth, The Lonesome Prince rightfully claims it’s spot in spades. The opening is some sad but beautiful piano work, and shortly afterwards a battalion of guitars & heavy drumming comes charging at you, then the vocal work of Hew Wanger comes in pretty strong. For the entire duration of the song you’re treated to a lot of intensity, and more often than not it’ll tug at the heartstrings pretty tightly as it matches the emotional aspect very well. As for the story.....without giving most of the story away, we find one of the titular main characters right beside the grave of a friend he dearly loved, and the tune deals with this heavy grief....or is it the other way around? Hmmmm......
The Lonesome Prince
As I said above, Blue-Eyed Emotion gets a 9 out of 10. Like the album after it, the rating it gets is highly earned.
And that was my review for the first Everfrost album, Blue Eyed Emotion! Again I don’t enjoy it as much as Winterider, but hot damn is it still a hell of a lot of fun to hear in my headphones or my speakers! Everfrost, if you happen to read this, I just want to say you need to sign up with a bigger record company (*Cough* Nuclear Blast *Cough*). You are too damn good, and too damn unique, to be so obscure and hidden from the rest of this metal world! There are plenty of weebs all over this world that would happily devour your work, and buy the everloving hell out of your merchandise. I hope that with 2021 and beyond, your wintry presence becomes stronger & we all feel it.
With that, my posts for 2020 are complete, and it’s time for......wait, there’s actually one more thing I gotta do this year. I’ll take some time off for Christmas & such, but please join me on the 28th for a tribute to a metal legend....and it’s gonna be rough. See you then.
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If you’d like to see more about this band (Not to mention my Winterider review from last year), as well as their music they’ve released so far then click on the links below:
Everfrost (Facebook)
Everfrost (Youtube)
Everfrost (Bandcamp)
Everfrost (Official Website)
Blue-Eyed Emotion
Winterider
Album Review - Everfrost’s Winterider
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