There is a general vibe surrounding the upcoming fifth album from Frozen Crown, called War Hearts, that suggests the Italian power metal outfit are truly at ease with themselves and their music.
Not only is War Hearts the band's first for Napalm Records, but it also ushers in 18-year-old guitar prodigy Alessia Lanzone and marks the first time Frozen Crown have released an album featuring all of the band members together on the one recording.
It shapes as a career defining album for the group, pushing their trademark elements to new levels of complexity without forgetting the characteristic catchy hooks that have punctuated their earlier work.
With War Hearts just weeks away from being released on October 18, vocalist Jade sat down with HEAVY to go through things in greater detail.
"For us this album is very important, because it's the first we are releasing with Napalm Records," Jade began, "and the first as a six piece band."
We ask her to talk about the musical side of War Hearts in greater detail.
"War Hearts is a fresh start for us," she explained, "because new label, new guitar player. But on the same side it's a very Frozen Crown album. We really wanted to be loyal to our sound, to our style. So you will find something Frozen Crown, but more powerful. Adding a third guitar has been a blast for us, especially from the live point of view. We really wanted to take the same amount of layers of guitars we have on the album. We are not fans of sequencing and backing tracks, so we wanted to be true. Working with a third guitar player has been a great enrichment for us. Alessia has been a breath of fresh air, and having the third guitar gave us the chance to enrich the arrangements."
In the full interview, Jade discussed the evolution of War Hearts, blending power metal, speed metal, and traditional heavy metal and keeping it cohesive, having all band members record an album for the first time and what it brought to the overall sound, how War Hearts pays homage to their influences such as Children of Bodom, in what ways Frozen Crown's sound has changed from their debut album The Fallen King to War Hearts, how Alessia came to be in the band and how she completes the line-up, their upcoming tour with Kamelot and more.