With their towers of silence so padded with flesh that no footsteps can be heard beyond the writhe of carrion beetles, maggots and crows Gdańsk, Poland-based thrashing melodic blackened death metal quartet FRIGHTFUL issue an eight-part omen, a sophomore full-length album at massive capacity for death. In following up a lightning strike of a debut LP ‘What Lies Ahead‘ reeks of morbid vitality, a flail taken to the high standards of earliest Scandinavian black/death metal melodicism entwined with late 80’s thrashing death as its off-hand weaponry. In capturing both the vibrancy of emergent melodic death ideals, the uncertain rise of black metal riffcraft, and the gasping rip of peak extreme thrash these folks draw a clear and concise line connecting a brilliant lineage of dramatic riffcraft and thoughtfully designed dark melodicism.

Frightful formed circa 2016 as a death/thrash and grindcore influenced group featuring musicians involved with local bands Pandemic Outbreak, Deafness, and Dreadnought and spent about three years and four minor releases honing in on their own novel sound. When I placed the band’s debut LP (‘Spectral Creator‘, 2021) on my best of October 2021 list after a positive review I’d summed up my thoughts on the band, suggesting the album “[‘Spectral Creator‘] picks up on the connections between ‘Extreme Aggression’, ‘The Awakening’ and ‘The Somberlain’ via melodic death metal as it was developing prior to 1993’s breakthrough. It is a tough hybridization to describe but fans of classic death/thrash metal and pre-‘Terminal Spirit Disease’ melodic death will get it within a song or two.” and those observations still generally hold true today as Frightful have continued this tradition without hesitation, doing more than dabbling with mid-90’s Dissection-esque Swedish melodic black/death metal territory and its kindred connection with the greats (i.e. Kreator by way of Merciless).

There isn’t a shit song among the eight that Frightful present here on ‘What Lies Ahead‘, the guitar layers hum with the melting ice of the mid-90’s and the double-bass kicks have an appropriately dry rattle, and while those choices read as authentic to the main source(s) of inspiration in mind it is the songcraft here that’ll transport listeners towards any nostalgic placeholders most readily. While I wouldn’t consider opener “Cloaked in Nothingness” an all-out bombastic assault it does capture the band starting the engines and getting to the riffs without any lead-driven muse or atmospheric ideal explored. By the time you hit ~2:39 minutes into the song all is lain clear enough, this album will continue on directly in the style of the previous album having cinched up their command of (early) melodic death inspired riffcraft. Check out the elastic snapped Swedeath groove on “Discarnate Sower” for confirmation, a song which’d have sounded entirely fitting on Merciless‘ self-titled record back in 2003 with a bit more rage applied to the vocal.

Between the balls-out, eye popping video for the title track (“What Lies Ahead“) and the rip through its heart racing boost of speed the first true high-point of the full listen is achieved, a song which launches the wraiths and casts every last spell in its arsenal in mounting its attack. Keep in mind I’m not yet suggesting Frightful have acquiesced to Dissection worship entirely but rather that the earliest days of melodic death in Scandinavia had similar interest in death/thrash metal and especially the second and third Kreator albums, both of which are certainly a part of the attack on this song and especially “No Fear”. For my own taste this is the threshold remaining open rather than fully crossed-over into blackened death metal, exactly my kind of shit in every sense. This is of course arguable down to the finest points but overall Side A shows a crazed, possessed side of the band that’d only just begun to stab through the walls on their debut.

Side B opener and major highlight “Into the Phantom Hearts” almost feels like a blend of A Canorous Quintet and Inquisition in gradually traded stance, a piece which eventually welcomes a ‘Far Away From the Sun‘ riff variant to salvage the violent temperament of the band within the final third of the song… narrowly avoiding the muscle-bound shotgunned chunking of late 90’s/early 2000’s melodeath-thrash fuel. The important thing here isn’t the specific references made so much as the two guitarists/main songwriters’ obsession with various types of riffs. These were inspired sessions wherein each of the eight songs on ‘What Lies Ahead‘ has clearly been worked over to a certain high standard which persists brilliantly and with some imaginative, dexterous results; If you are an ‘old school’ (as in pre-1998) melodic death metal fan pay close attention to this second half of the album because “Farewell” and especially closer “Inexplicable” have some of the most potent “real” melodic death metal attrition in this sense, a focus on both At the Gates and ‘The Somberlain‘ in terms of the riffcraft’s phrasing and technique.

Amidst the cyclonic thrashing melodeath on feature “Cathedrals of Creation” throws in some sleeker chord changes and amps the speed of Frightful‘s attack as they bridge the final moments of the album with both brutality and brooding introspection. While I was more thrilled by the melodic death aggression that’d surrounded this song every piece here generally adds to the flow of the full listen, narrowly avoiding a record that feels stuck on one idea or sound beyond their most obviate enthusiasm. The full listen is balanced enough with much more interest left to the second half than expected; The lyrics appear to speak to the blight at the end of humanity, an accost upon those that are unfit to transcend by ignorance or animal nature, and a promise that what lies ahead is doom and the unknown aftermath. Frightful‘s lyricist charges into this whole heartedly with at least some Romanticist inspired vernacular in hand and a mind for how vocalist/bassist Oskar Wańka‘s cadence fits into these elaborate ~4-5 minute death metal songs. To add to this theme they’ve gone with vexing cover art by N. Zuki & Belial NecroArts which depicts the monster behind the mask, weeping. I don’t understand this image (something about it looks AI generated) and I do not enjoy the contrasting color choices made per the logo and title but it was evocative enough to prove memorable.

For those who didn’t hear the storm coming on ‘Spectral Creator‘ it’ll have fully arrived just a few songs deep into ‘What Lies Ahead‘, a natural step taken beyond those grinding death/thrash ideals toward something more melodic but no less feral. Frightful have made an admirable effort here even if we can concede the heavy inspiration taken from albums like ‘The Somberlain‘ this is in no way a point of detraction as their work stands out well within (and beside) said niche. Though I’d felt like their overall presentation/aesthetic could’ve used more thought there is a fantastic record here lying in wait. A high recommendation.

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