Album Review: Break The Ice by Negative Frame
Cover art for Break The Ice by Negative Frame
London has been a hub of musical culture for decades, its multicultural socio-climate acting as a stellar breeding ground for sounds and scenes alike. It’s the home of UKHC, with bands like Knuckledust and Ninebar paving the way for generations of bands to follow. One of those bands, London’s own Negative Frame, is finally dropping their debut record.
Hardcore bands aren’t always known for their full-lengths. EPs, splits, and compilation tracks are the main source of exposure for a lot of the genre’s contributors. They thrive on fast stabs of energy, short bursts that can translate across to a hectic live environment. Putting out something longer than twenty minutes is a daunting task, and not one to take lightly. So, for the last two and a half years or so, and more recently empowered by a newfound sobriety amongst the key songwriters, Negative Frame has been quietly grinding away. Now comes the reveal: “Break The Ice”, almost forty minutes long, and with an eleven-song tracklist. Are you ready? Yes, you are.
It’s clear from the start that they mean something different. The title alone shows the statement of intent. Breaking the ice to a new audience, a new domain. Stepping out from the underground and marching headstrong toward bigger stages, bigger rooms. They’ve upped the metal, something that they’ve always drawn influence from, and they mean business. This is still undeniably a hardcore record - it’s self-released, and the beatdowns are as vital as ever, but the additional metal feel shows that there’s more to this band than just beatdowns and cartwheels.
Opening with an instrumental track that feels akin to something you’d find on Sepultura’s “Roots”, and then essentially another which showcases the band’s riffing ability, you may find yourself taken aback slightly. But fear not, as whilst the direction may surprise, the ability does not. This is still Negative Frame, and bounding into New Lows, a track which has occupied a place in live sets for quite some time, will undoubtedly reassure you. Vocalist Kesari Gorin’s deep roar drags you along, and the stonewall drumming from Luke Walker will have you bouncing from one side of the room to the other.
A new addition to the band’s sound, and another that may surprise long-time listeners, is that of quote-unquote clean vocals. Such is said in this manner because of the gravelly nature of their tone, but they are undeniably melodic. And by god do they work. Complementing and contrasting against the sonic landscape of the record, these moments will have you holding your hands to the sky and screaming along as best as you can muster.
It’s not all fist shakes and singalongs, however. Cut Throat, coming in around halfway through the record, is a tremolo-picked and blastbeat-laden rager. The metal, dear reader, is up your arse. Make your way to the dancefloor and prove yourself worthy, as tracks like this serve to remind you that you are in fact listening to a hardcore band, and you are in fact listening to one of the best this country has to offer you. Guitarist and primary songwriter Olly Coyne churns away at a swirling and squalling solo which adds flavour and atmosphere to an already barbarous track. Twenty years of his life have been spent playing guitar, and it shows.
Twenty years playing, almost ten years as a band, everything they’ve released in that time being self-produced. It’s appropriate, fitting even, that after all this time they finally approach a producer. John Mitchell, of the band Asia and many, many others, is that producer. The record sounds massive. It’s built for big rooms, festival main stages. The songs are large, and the ambition is larger. Straddling the line between two genres is no easy task, and a record that balances both so well deserves a production job that exemplifies that. It will sound huge no matter where you choose to listen to this record, whatever the medium. The solos soar, the mosh parts hit hard, the vocals are clear. It’s dirty, it’s gritty, it’s just the way it should be. London hardcore, ready to take you on.
That being said, the half-acoustic, astoundingly heart-wrenching ballad Heavens Blue is a standout on the record. It is beautiful, and shows another side to the band that nobody would have expected. Written in the wake of the great Download boycott of 2024, the track stands alone, defiant. Sorrow catalyses many things, and inspiring the instrumental backdrop for a song such as this is yet another example. As mentioned previously, this record is a self-released venture. Having previously worked alongside The Coming Strife, taking on a full-length record with nothing more than a distribution deal (albeit with a Nuclear Blast subsidiary) is a brave endeavour. But hardcore is as hardcore does, and the London riffers have a name etched in the annals of the genre. Word of mouth and a solid reputation as a band that delivers will undoubtedly see this landing right where it needs to be.
Overall, the band has delivered tenfold. Expectations surpassed, the full-length well and truly conquered. Following in the footsteps of peers such as Malevolence and Guilt Trip, the path has been set for them to become one of the UK’s biggest and best. The ability is there, the ambition is obvious; it is now in the hands of the masses. They deserve to succeed. The hard work and the hours spent need to be rewarded, and the product is exceptional. Negative Frame has broken the ice and is here to stay. It’s in your hands now. Listen to the record, enjoy it. Hardcore is as hardcore does, and now: it demands your attention.
FFO: Malevolence, Guilt Trip, Pest Control, Splitknuckle
SCORE: 8/10
Break The Ice is being released independently by the band on the 7th of August and will be available on all streaming platforms and physically via Bandcamp.
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