Ewig Frost
Rust
6.7
Question for y’alls: what do you get when you cross heaps of Celtic Frost and Darkthrone influences with a punk attitude, the occasional diversion into atmospheric or sludge territory, a few V for Vendetta samples, and even a smidge of saxophone? You get Rust, the second release and first EP from Austria’s Ewig Frost (“eternal frost”). In spite of the scatterbrained approach, the release is not without a certain appeal, especially if you were oddly tantalized by the first sentence of this review.
The four main tracks of Rust each bring a bit of unique flavor to the aforementioned influences. “Kid of Chaos” spends half of its duration in The Cult is Alive territory before taking on a methodical and emotive air. “The Anti-Nazi Track” and “The Pirates of Black Metal” are both in the blackened punk metal style that, unsurprisingly, is very similar to recent Darkthrone. The former comes dangerously close to rip-off territory (the chorus screams “Fuck off Nazi bitch!”), but the latter is a healthy slab of fist-pumpery intent to get some necks moving. Matters get strange with “Sunken in the Sun,” which for a few minutes maintains the EP’s old-school mood, dashed with a touch of Soilent Green groove, but the inclusion of saxophone and an extended diversion into classic rock territory simultaneously reveal the band to have wider aspirations and yet a lack of total focus.
Add in a production as uneven as the oft-erratic songwriting approach, and Rust becomes that rare type of trainwreck that you don’t mind being involved in every once in a while. Not all of the elements that Ewig Frost throw at the wall stick, but several do, and the overall package should put a moderately blackened grin on your face.
