SIN STREET SLEAZE: FROZEN TEARS ARE FALLING HOT!

Melbourne, Australia has always been home to a thriving hard rock and heavy metal music scene. The early-eighties was a particularly exciting and fertile time, with tours by major bands such as AC/DC, KISS, Deep Purple and Iron Maiden stirring up excitement and energy in thousands of suburban teenagers, many of whom spent most of their spare time hanging out inside the cramped confines of Central Station Records. Hidden within the cold concrete tomb of Princess Bridge Train Station, Central Station was a mecca for local hard rock and metal fans, a source for not only the latest vinyl imports and hard-to-find rarities, but a place for likeminded fans to congregate, listen to new music, swap cassette tapes, and share the occasional life dream or vision.

It was out of this landscape that emerged the two main forces that would ultimately combine and lead to the formation of Frozen Tears, a melodic rock band who came together in 1996. Driven by close childhood friends Thanis Akritidis on vocals and Jon Powers on guitar and keyboards, with both contributing to the songwriting duties, Frozen Tears was a natural and organic progression from the bands which they had each led in the 1980s. Akritidis spent several years singing lead for Knight, a melodic rock outfit who proved popular on the local live scene, playing alongside noted acts like Axatak, De-Arrow, SAS and Virgin Soldiers, while Powers displayed a more aggressive, pure metal sound with his late-eighties act Blood on Kisses. The combination of these two disparate styles is what helps give Frozen Tears their distinctive sound…melody with bite!

After working out their sound and approach, and putting some original songs together, Frozen Tears soon began work on their debut album, Silence of the Night, which saw release in late-1997 and was a potent mix of no-nonsense hard rock with strong melodic overtones and an infusion of classic A.O.R. sounds. Heavily influenced by bands such as KISS, Whitesnake, Dokken and White Sister, Silence of the Night amply demonstrated the strong creative chemistry between Akritidis and Powers, not to mention the duo’s songwriting skills and the overall musical chops of the group. The album was well-received both critically and by the band’s fans, and also found an audience overseas, particularly in Europe where it still sells consistently thanks to the enduring popularity of that musical style on the continent.

The production on the new tracks is quite excellent - crisp, punchy and polished, with a lot of air and space for the instruments and Akritidis’ assured, passionate vocals to breathe and expand, yet it also retains a natural and organic sound. Providing the perfect balance to the vocals is the very tasty and accomplished rhythm and lead guitar work by Powers, which is filled with chunky, epic riffs but also highlights his ability to superbly handle the softer and more melodic sides to Frozen Tears’ sound. Powers, who has done a tight job of engineering the new tracks he co-produced with Akritidis, also proves himself adept with his keyboard skills, which contribute greatly to the depth and authenticity of the music. Children of the early-eighties, Frozen Tears have done an enviable job of recreating the aural analog warmth of all the albums they grew-up listening to, providing a much-welcome relief from the overly-digitized and autotuned sounds that mar and render lifeless so much of modern music.

While Frozen Tears went into an extended hiatus not long after the release of Silence of the Night and its subsequent local tour to promote it, the band never officially broke up, but have instead spent the years since writing and working on new material, with the inevitable aim of recording and releasing the long-awaited follow-up to their debut album.

The stars finally started to align for the band in early 2020, when Frozen Tears began laying down tracks for Brazen Whisper, the tentative title for their self-produced sophomore album. As the world started heading into isolation and worrying about the future, Akritidis and Powers were escaping into their music, laying down and refining cuts like “Set Me Free”, “Love Can Be Real”, “Hold on Tight” and “Brazen Whisper”. These highly infectious new tracks show that Frozen Tears have remained true to their original influences and direction, while also showing a natural maturity in sound, lyrics and production. “Hold on Tight” is a rousing, anthemic plea in the best 1980s Paul Stanley tradition, while “Set Me Free” powers along on a chugging guitar riff, the song also featuring some pleasing jazz and funk-inspired breakdowns and interludes. There’s also the balladic “Can’t Stop”, which wears its classic Whitesnake influences proudly on its sleeve, not to mention the title track, “Brazen Whisper”, which starts amidst a kaleidoscopic swirl of ambient sounds and hypnotic vocal echoes, before its heavy, dour riff kicks in and the song soars into high gear.

With seven tunes already finished and in the can, and work being completed on four more tracks, Brazen Whisper makes an emphatic statement that melodic hard rock in its classic style remains just as vibrant and vital as it ever was, and is not going anywhere anytime soon. Certainly not if Frozen Tears have anything to say about it.

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