Over the years we’ve seen Rock and even Hard Rock and Heavy Metal slowly erode into over-commercialized, corporate puppet shows providing music that is extremely sing songy, predictable, popish and highly corporate. I hereby call this new breed of music “Poser Rock” & I want to personally thank all the corporate giants for successfully transforming “Sex Drugs & Rock n Roll” into “Yoga, Vitamins, and Power Pop” Of course millions of musical lemmings don’t know the difference. But trust me when I say not everyone is highly entertained. Talking to many music fans out there the response is overwhelming. Give me something new, something raw, something that’s pushes the envelope with a fresh sound that doesn’t sound like Nikelback, Daughtry or Lifehouse.
So across my desk slides the new CD (Valentine and Other Stories of Hope) by ATL based Chris Compton who’s project moniker goes by the name of FROSTBITE. What I heard put a smile on my face. This latest CD has everything. Solid playing, impressive writing, top flight marketability and commercial viability. Above all it’s a rock solid release that delivers solid songwriting with a hard hitting rock edge that is marketable yet highly original. Frostbite reminds me of a cross between Incubus, Parabola, Chevelle and even Tool. But despite my poor attempt at pigeonholing this impressive artist will say they have a unique and Progressive sound that transcends stereotypical pigeonholing. Compton is also more passionate than any of the aforementioned acts as well. There’s also a raw-indie vibe here as well — not as refined as some of the above bands but impressive nonetheless. If you like the above bands you should definitely check out this CD. Favorite tracks are: Hurt, Howl and Yet Another Stain.
CD is available on CD BABY & can be downloaded on I — Tunes.
Valentine and other Stories of Hope is a solid prelude of a release with many hard rocking grooves with a heavy guitar driven sound that hits you hard between the eyes. It’s a record that gives us a fresh glimpse at a hot new band from ATL. It definitely takes us back a few years — before everything started sounding like — well Nikelback.
Kevin Huber
Edited by Cyrus Rhodes
