Texan death metal five-piece Frozen Soul have been bubbling away in the US underground for years, but it was this year's excellent No Place of Warmth that attracted them some bonus attention - not least thanks to guest appearances from Machine Head leader Robb Flynn and, most surprisingly, My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. Frozen Soul singer Chad Green explains how those two collabs came about, what it's been like playing death metal in arenas and more.
Let’s start with the important question: how’s Carl, your adopted puppy?
“He’s great! He was actually literally just in here, begging for attention. I didn’t actually want a dog. For a while, I’ve been like, ‘I’d love another dog, but I tour so much I can’t really take care of one right now.’ But I got home from tour and my girlfriend Nat and her son came over with a Yorkie-poo [Yorkshire Terrier/Poodle crossbreed]! He was the cutest thing in the entire world and I about cried when I saw him. I can’t imagine my family without him now.”
Speaking of tours, Frozen Soul in arenas – what’s that been like?
“It was wild! Our first run at those kind of shows was with Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse and Obituary. We played Red Rocks – the first death metal to ever play there, by the way, because we opened the show. We were shitting bricks on that tour because it was so insanely stressful. But fast-forward four or five tours and we’re out with Killswitch, doing hockey arenas. The hardest thing is playing to a big crowd who have no idea who we are. There’s nights where I’m like, ‘Who’s heard Frozen Soul?’ and one guy’s like, squeaking at the back, ‘Me!’ But you know, when you win that crowd over, you feel on top of the world.”
How does a Texan death metal band draft in Gerard Way to sing on their record?
“It’s not as hard as you’d think! His team invited us to see My Chemical Romance in Dallas, something crazy like 30 or 40,000 people in this sold-out stadium. We went backstage and met him, ended up trading numbers. Then he came to see us when we played in LA with Napalm Death and Brujeria. When we talked about the new album, I thought it’d be funny to ask Gerard if he wanted to sing on a song over text. He came straight back, ‘Absolutely!’ He’s inspired so many generations, but he’s just down to do cool shit too and he absolutely loves metal.”
Be honest: did you have an emo phase?
“Not really. There was a moment where I met this girl and her friends listened to like Mewithoutyou, Atreyu, bands like that. My Chemical Romance was probably in that, but I loved the heavier stuff more – I’d been shown Decapitated! At the time there was a screamo/hardcore scene coming up in Texas though, and finding that led me to Terror, Comeback Kid, Youth Of Today, Gorilla Biscuits… all that stuff.”
We were the first death metal band to play Red Rocks
Chad Green
Gerard’s not the only guest – how was it working with Robb Flynn?“
He’s such a good dude. I’ve worshipped the end riff of Davidian my entire career. I strongly believe that riff is why breakdowns evolved how they have. You’ve got Reign In Blood and Domination, which are great, but that riff at the end of Davidian? That shaped so much stuff it’s insane. We always try to work with friends or people we look up to.”
So are you friends with Robb now?“
Yeah! We were playing with Killswitch when we first met him, I was watching them play and he just came up and we ended up singing a load of their songs together. Robb and I had calls, we talked about the song and how it’s a follow-up to Arsenal Of War, but also talked about our experiences with loss. It all just clicked. He wrote all the lyrics of the parts he’s on too – he really invested himself in the song.”
Was Dallas excited to host the World Cup?
“I don’t know, I’m not a fuckin’ sports guy! I play videogames and Magic: The Gathering, you know? II don’t know the difference between a basketball and a football, dude. I didn’t get this god-like figure from sports – I got it from eating Big Macs and playing World Of Warcraft.”
As an expert on ice – who’d win in a battle royal between Ice-T, Ice Cube and Vanilla Ice?
“Oh man, Ice-T would probably kill them all. He seems like the coolest. I’ve never met him, but of all the celebrities out there he seems the most grounded, a real fuckin’ dude. I’d love to get him on a Frozen Soul record – alright, LP4!”
No Place Of Warmth is out now via Century Media
