Stereoboard's Soundtrack For The UK's Big Freeze (Black Sabbath, Immortal, Lordi Feature)
Monday, 21 January 2013
Written by Alec Chillingworth
Speaking on behalf of the entire British public: We do moan a fair bit about the snow, don’t we? I mean, I know that it severely disrupts travel plans and provides to be a bit of a nightmare on occasions, but the chaos should be embraced! Personally I love hurling snowballs at unsuspecting children. Anybody else? Okay, just me. Anyway, there are thousands of songs out there that will remind you of warmer, fairer times (if you fancy braving the new Bruno Mars album). But here, on this page, I have compiled a list of 5 songs relating to this perilously chilly weather we’re having. So enjoy it, you grim, frostbitten miseries.
BLACK SABBATH – SNOWBLIND
At first glance, yes, this song could be about a blizzard. Ozzy Osbourne rambles on about a ‘crystal world with winter flowers’, and this might seem like quite a poignant image; but he’s talking about doing cocaine. Of course he is (the give-away is at the end of the 1st verse when he whispers ‘cocaine’...). Even so, I don’t really care; Black Sabbath are the overlords of heavy metal, and if they want to disguise doing filthy amounts of cocaine as walking in a winter wonderland, then I’m not going to question them. Plus, Tony Iommi’s guitar solo at the end is an absolute ripper.
IMMORTAL – AT THE HEART OF WINTER
If there ever were a competition for ‘Who can refer to winter the most within their songs’, then Immortal would win hands down. Obviously, there is no such competition, but they’d still win it nonetheless. The album cover for ‘At The Heart Of Winter’ perfectly encapsulates what Immortal are all about; there’s a massive, evil castle surrounded in ice, topped off with an unnecessarily large raven larking about overhead. Starting things up with a spooky 2-minute keyboard intro accompanied by an obligatory soundscape of the blowing wind, Immortal really went to town on the title track. Just listening to front man Abbath’s throaty roar of ‘YOU ARE AT THE HEART OF WINTEEEEEER’ is enough to send a chill down your spine, never mind the weather outside.
MICHALE GRAVES - FROSTBITE
A beautifully raw vocal performance on Michale Graves’ behalf, proving to the naysayers that he can manage a more than credible career beyond the horror-punk trappings of his former band, The Misfits. Delivering lyrics penned by one of the falsely accused Memphis Three, Damien Echols, this acoustic ditty really does resonate with me. Especially the line ‘It’s oh so cold in here’; I found myself shouting that very sentence this morning after discovering the central heating to be turned off. Well, my version had a few more swear words in it. The song, however, does seem to be about a dead person. Still, it’s an absolute corker.
LORDI – IT SNOWS IN HELL
Remember Lordi (pictured, above)? The monster men who completely obliterated the competition at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2006? Well, they actually have more tunes in their arsenal than just that song, and here’s one of them. ‘It Snows In Hell’ is a power ballad of sorts; it’s a heartfelt dirge brimming with emotion. Okay, that’s going a bit far. It’s basically the same as every other song Lordi have ever written, but a bit slower. Oh, and it includes a solo from former KISS guitar-fiddler Bruce Kulick. Which is nice.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – TENTH AVENUE FREEZE OUT
It’s not really about winter, but it’s got the word ‘freeze’ in it, so I’m having it. Plus it’s Bruce Springsteen, therefore needs no further justification.
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