H.B. – Frozen Inside
I love music, all kinds of music, from praise and worship to thrash metal – although I must admit I do have a penchant for the heavier stuff. For a couple of year’s I have been listening to lots of symphonic metal such as Nightwish,, Evanescence, Kamelot, and After Forever. I love how these bands combine the sound of orchestra’s, choirs, operatic multi-layered vocals, with the raw untapped sound of metal. However, I have been a little wary as to some of the lyrics, as up until now there hasn’t been too much Christian or faith-based symphonic metal on offer.
H.B., which stands for Holy Bible, may just be Christendom’s answer to this dilemma. Hailing from Finland, H.B. have produced an outstanding album, which has quickly become one of my favorite CD’s – I’m even listening to it now as I write this.
The musicianship is above average for this kind of music and there’s something on offer for every fan of the heavier side of music – flat out symphonic metal tracks to softer ballads with a definite soundtrack feel to them. Like many symphonic metal acts, the music itself is quite simple and there’s not too many guitar-wiz-shredding moments on offer, but that’s okay as it would probably ruin this perfectly good album. Sometimes the saying is true, simple is better. The most important thing for this type of music is the production and song arrangement, both of which are brilliant on this album.
Unlike many of the European symphonic metal acts, H.B. does vary it’s sound a lot on this album, which makes a change from many of the bands out there that thrash it out for the entire album. It goes without saying that being a European band there’s a definite European metal feel to the music, and it’s worth noting that like the afore mentioned bands, Nightwish , Evanescence, and After Forever, H.B. has female lead singer. Call me sexist, but I’m not a big fan of female vocals in the typical rock/metal music scene, but I have to be honest and say that I love female vocals in this type of music. Johanna Aaltonen does an amazing job in the vocal dept. and her voice fits so beautifully with this style of music, especially on the softer tracks like The Lovesong, Years Go By, and the haunting, Holy Secret. I wouldn’t say that her vocals are as strong as Anette (Nightwish) Olzon’s per say, but there is a softer, more “child-like” quality to Johanna’s vocals that suits this music extremely well, and gives a touch of authenticity when she sings about her Father in Heaven in the song The Lovesong.
Standout tracks on this album are God Has All The Glory, Be Aware, and Holy Secret, but honestly, every track is better that what many bands achieve after many albums. I also appreciated that H.B. also included a spoken explanation of our need of Jesus followed by prayer of salvation in the song “Way”, something that is not done too often these days. BIG KUDOS for this!
Frozen Inside is H.B.’s first major release and they have since followed it up with another release called, Piikki Lihassa, which I will be sure to check out.
Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
April, 2009
You might like the music of Theocracy. Not as symphonic as the above mentioned artists, but never the less Matt Smith has some unbelievable “choir” like chorus’ in his progressive power metal sound. Great production form an independent Christian artist hailing from Athens, GA. Also has a a good euro vibe to it. You have to hear “Laying The Demon To Rest”. Absolute killer track.
You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/theocracyband
Already a big fan of Theocracy. I listen to lots of music – the MP3 player in my office works overtime!
Thanks for your comment – keep it Hardcore!