It's a shame that Killer Hill's
Frozen Head seemed to fly under so many radars when it dropped back in 2022. It has the kind of lineup you'd expect to generate a suitable quotient of hype as far as trios go, comprised of Dan Beeman and Dave Case of Helmet, as well as Pete Beeman of noise-knaves Guzzard. You'd think that would be the case, at least. But, it's not really like
Frozen Head exists to break any new ground, turn heads, or impress the uninitiated- at least not in the same way that their other groups have, or rather, continue to do. It feels like this record exists because the guys involved just wanted to make a really kick-ass rock record, and I'll allow myself to be thrown from a moving car before I look down on someone with such a gracious ambition as that. As far as their sound, it's somewhat comparable to Red Fang, where they're kind of doing several genres of hard rock and heavy metal all at once, sort of a diagonal of gambit that draws together and stitches into embrace the eyes, ears, and other orifices of boiling, heat-stroke-inducing sludge, kick-draw thunder-thrash, back-yard-brawling soundtracking grunge, and a mirage-inducing wave of dessert rock. They bring all of these elements together into a massive, head-banging sound that will knock you flat out like you've been stomped by a disgruntled sasquatch in a tie-dye shirt who just lept from an Apache helicopter whirring overhead just to show you the business. It's militantly groovy while remaining dreamy and strangely exotic, focusing its sight through the channel of its ajna chakra as if its sound could acquire the intensity of a Lazor beam aimed through a glassy aperture to cut an "S" pattern into your forehead like you're a wooden desk in an unsupervised detention hall.
Frozen Head is a crudely radiant and nonchalantly lysergic little spectacle that is hotter than it appears and cooler than even its pedigree would indicate. Kick off your summer with a cold one like
this and you can't go wrong!
