FROST, ALBERT SACRED SOUND (2021)
Sacred Sound is Albert Frost’s 4th solo album and his best since Angels & Demons. It rocks hard and is a positive progression from its predecessor.
The Wake Up, apparently a project he had wanted to do for a long time, a proper, grownup rock album with big, important themes, was critically acclaimed and won a SAMA but, on reflection, it was a confection that exhilarated when I first heard it, but soon lost its lustre. The big, AOR rock production, regardless of how intricate and sophisticated the arrangements were and how much effort Frost put into showcasing his skills, and the meaningful, philosophic lyrics, however earnestly meant, were evidence of ambition yet did not deliver a sustainable attraction. The record quickly bored me.
On this new album, Frost amps up the guitar power with ampfli4ifers and effects pedals and invests in voice distorting software to give us a hard rock album, with the usual gentle contrasts, sung in his natural voice, that crackles with energy and rocks with power. I’m reminded of the dense guitar sound of Arno Carstens’ (who is a guest vocalist on “Storms are breaking”) New Porn project for which Frost supplied guitar parts.
Neil Sandilands, a South African actor making the rounds in Hollywood nowadays, does a bar room philosopher spoken word piece on “Ecce Homo.”
In its way Sacred Sound is more ambitious than The Wake Up, which, on reflection, is simply Frost testing the waters so to speak. The earlier album, in contrast, sounds very tentative and somewhat prissily fussy now while Sacred Sound is assertive, not least in the powerful guitar sound, and looser in general approach and conceptual feel. It’s a considerably more entertaining consumer experience, for sure.
The opening tracks, the heavy riffing title track and the more streamlined power modern rock approach of “I’m Still Here” simply blast off into the stratosphere with an umcompromising statement of intent and after that the intensity never lets up, even on the more reflective tracks. The lyrics have had a satisfactory upgrade too. Frost has left the blues behind in no uncertain terms and the almost prissy arrangements and production of The Wake Up truly pales in comparison.
This record is almost ridiculously enjoyable to listen to at maximum volume. There isn’t a bad song on it.
