Frozen Soul
Special Guests: Creeping Death, Foreseen and Disengagement.
Venue: Rebellion, Manchester.
Date: 14th February 2024
Review By: Mark Young
Here we are at Rebellion, just opposite Deansgate Station. Last time I was here I caught Countless Skies and MØL here in May last year, both were outstanding, but the crowd wasn’t. I don’t think I have been as disappointed as I was that night, with both bands giving 100% to little reception. But that was last year, and this is a different set of bands ready to smash the place up.
On the run-up to tonight, Phobophilic have dropped out, which leaves the headliners with Foreseen, Creeping Death and Disengagement stepping in as openers on what is a stacked night.
Disengagement
The line is already snaking past the door when I land, and they kick off at 7.20 with Disengagement coming into a fair turn-out and proceed to put a size 10 on proceedings. It’s cracking stuff, shades of Suicidal Tendencies’ Mike Muir in how vocalist Tom Curry covers every inch of that stage while they present some bludgeoning death metal with some wicked Obituary vibes. Even with mic problems popping up, that didn’t deter them in any way. They did an awful lot in their allotted time to get the crowd warmed up, and by the end there were a fair number in attendance. Check their socials out for when they are playing next because they are well worth checking out 
(3.5 / 5)
Foreseen
Foreseen, the madmen from Helsinki start and just don’t stop. Being ushered in by members of Disengagement, they begin, and I think they get to the 5th song of the night before they have stopped to announce what song it was and take a breath. Taking the stage, with their guitars set left and right, leaving the middle to Mirko (Vocals) and Tatu (Bass, taken from online sources) to just attack. I get the feeling that delivering the music was more important than telling us what song it was, and if that is the case, then I love that. They came out and dropped an incredibly savage blend that takes in punk, Thrash that whips the audience up no end. It was breakneck, full-tilt, and they just destroyed. This is the sort of band that turns up at any position on the bill and gives everything, and they did. They were frenetic, each playing off the other with some gnarly tones. Incredibly they managed to keep this going for the full set and props to them for that 
(4 / 5)
And just like that we’d had two storming bands before 9pm, both tonally different and both coming away with new fans, which is how it should be.
Creeping Death
Creeping Death, the first of the Texas Tornado’s to come blowing through, hit the stage and the carnage starts almost immediately as their heavy groove takes effect. If you think that Foreseen was the aural equivalent of a hand grenade; widespread devastation in a close area, then Creeping Death were more like being picked off by an unseen sniper with a sound that evokes classic brutal death of the 90s but with a solid slab of groove running through it. Reese does enough with the crowd to keep them up and raging without overplaying the bandleader motif. Flanked by razor sharp guitar and bass monsters, including Trey, who is starting his own pit whilst dropping riff after riff. This is where you see that level change in bands, as they control the energy now in the room as they drag the crowd along accordingly. They instinctively know how to do it, and they do it so well. They are scarily impressive, and I love just how tight they were whilst dropping banger after banger. They are now on that list of must-see bands whenever they come touring again, and you have to catch them in venues such as Rebellion while you can 
(4.5 / 5)
Frozen Soul 
And then, the main event, Frozen Soul. Touring off the back of their second album, Glacial Domination they truly lay waste to the Rebellion with one of the most brutal performances I’ve had the pleasure to witness. Stage divers are in constant rotation whilst vocalist Chad Green roars his way through a pummelling setlist, acting like a track-coach, alternating between fire-breathing behemoth and your best friend. They are possibly one of the most welcoming bands I’ve seen, inviting the audience onto the stage and then making room for them to leap off it. It was one of the coolest things to see, intoning that they want the crowd to go wild, let loose, slam but look after each other while they are doing it. I know that bands are doing this more and more, but with them, you can see and hear that it is from the heart. The band itself was locked in, performing as one, with some thunderous low-end supplied by Samantha M as they tore through their set. As they got to the end, they did something unexpected, at least to me. Getting everyone to make room and spread out, introducing a little cardio via pit push-ups. It was something to behold and to really top off the night they unleash a cover of Mortician’s Witches Coven following a little to and fro of ‘Who is the Heaviest band?’. You may take exception to continual positive messages driven by Chad in between songs. You might think that death metal push-ups are cringe. These are opinions, and you are welcome to them but seeing them live and seeing how the crowd bounced off them (literally) you can’t help but have a massive smile because of how inclusive it was. There was no aggravation in the pit, everyone was there for each other, and on top of that you had a band that was just on fire 
(5 / 5)
