CD review, Feb 09. The Freezing Fog – The Freezing Fog (EyesofSound)

Manchester’s The Freezing Fog remind me of Scots, Mind Gone Blind, whom I recently reviewed. This is straight ahead rock, something which might be called pub rock by the unkind or boring by the clueless. All I can say is that it’s the Orange Goblin-ish, Clutch-isms that bump it up a notch in credibility and while they’re far more Classic Rock shall we say, than southern fried, there is a feeling of a Clutch-lite and a hint of polished NWOBHM here. Like the aforementioned MGB, the guitar playing is good and accomplished, if maybe a little understated, the vocals clean and well phrased, but in general we’re not hearing much that’s groundbreaking. The rhythm section is certainly walking a pedestrian line, though that could be the clean production. Therein lies my confusion as to where a band like this sit in this day and age; exactly how far they can go and what are they aiming for? It’s all to play for, but I think Freezing Fog might want to get just a little more grit and grind into proceedings and tone down that polish and shine.