Cryoshell (album)

Cryoshell is the self-titled debut studio album by Danish rock band Cryoshell, released June 7, 2010 by Voices Music & Entertainment. Produced by Jacob Hansen, the album was recorded between late 2008 and April 2010 at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark.

Cryoshell
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 7, 2010
Recorded2008–April 2010
StudioHansen Studios (Ribe, Denmark)
Genre
Length40:34
Label
  • Cryoshell I/S
  • VME
ProducerJacob Hansen
Cryoshell chronology
Creeping in My Soul
(2010)
Cryoshell
(2010)
Next to Machines
Singles from Cryoshell
  1. "Bye Bye Babylon"
    Released: July 19, 2009
  2. "Creeping in My Soul"
    Released: November 29, 2009

Prior to recording, Cryoshell was best known for producing soundtrack music for Bionicle, a popular series of construction toys manufactured by Lego, that featured in the promotional material of various sets released between 2007 and 2009. This made Lego partially responsible for the band's formation. The record was originally announced for a late 2008 release, but was pushed back numerous times before initially only being released in Scandinavia. It eventually received international publication by 2012.

Cryoshell received generally positive feedback, with reviewers applauding lead singer Christine Lorentzen's vocal style and the cinematic quality and production of each track. Criticism was put towards the band's lyrics, saying they flawed in structure, and that they held a musical style similar to that of American rock band Evanescence.

The album sprawled two singles, "Bye Bye Babylon" and "Creeping in My Soul", released in July and November 2009, respectively.

Background and recording

Between 2006 and 2009, Cryoshell produced songs for the Lego toy line Bionicle for use in various pieces of media promoting new sets. The songs, released as free MP3 downloads from the official Bionicle website, proved popular, with one, "Creeping in My Soul", becoming the #1 most downloaded file from the Lego website around its time of 2007 release. After releasing the song "Closer to the Truth" under the band name Cryoshell for Bionicle's Mistika wave in October 2008, the group announced plans to record a full-length album.

The entire album was recorded, produced and mixed by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Northern Denmark. Demos were recorded in late 2008, with main production commencing in early 2009 and wrapping by April 2010. The first song produced was "Bye Bye Babylon", in time for Bionicle's 2009 marketing campaign. To match the album's production quality, previous songs used by Bionicle, "Creeping in My Soul" and "Closer to the Truth", which were originally produced in 2006 and 2008, were re-recorded. There were also plans to re-record "Face Me" and "Gravity Hurts", two other songs also used by Bionicle and originally sung by Danish singer Niels Brinck, with Lorentzen, but they were ultimately scrapped. A classical remix of "Gravity Hurts" sung by Lorentzen was eventually released in 2018, featuring the Budapest Art Orchestra.

Composition

Each track on the album is generally a rock song of alternative and symphonic styles, as well as cinematic-like elements that stem from neoclassical metal and power pop. On composing new songs, the band would create a melody on either an acoustic guitar or a piano and build it up from there, with lyrics added later. As a large number of the album's songs were either previously used or considered for Lego's Bionicle campaigns, the lyrics consequently allude to elements from the franchise's storyline.

The album's opening number "Creeping in My Soul" was written by keyboardist Mikkel Maltha with established Danish composer Anthony Lledo in 2006, originally for Lego Bionicle's Barraki marketing campaign. Labelled as a progressive rock song, its lyrics allude to elements from the franchise's 2007 story of taking place deep under the sea and mystery of what the seabed might hold. The following track "Bye Bye Babylon", co-written by all three band members, uniquely features distinctive Eastern musical elements. The songs "Trigger" "Feed" and "Falling" – all co-written by Lorentzen and guitarist Kasper Søderlund – are upbeat, symphonic numbers that feature more power pop and pop rock elements. The two also wrote the nu metal number "Come to My Heaven".

Søderlund co-wrote the melodic track "Murky" with Maltha, the latter of whom penned the soft rock ballad "The Room" and the more symphonic number "Closer to the Truth", the latter of which was originally composed for Bionicle's Mistika campaign, and like "Creeping in My Soul", alludes to story elements from the franchise. The album's closing number "No More Words" was solely composed by Lorentzen. It is a classical ballad that features higher levels of orchestral arrangements with no guitar work; putting emphasis on Lorentzen's vocals.

Promotion

Cryoshell released the digital extended play Creeping in My Soul on January 5, 2010, serving as a teaser for the then-forthcoming album by featuring five completed songs.

In a video blog uploaded onto Cryoshell's official YouTube channel on May 30, 2010, Lorentzen stated that due of the album's limited release in Denmark as well as ongoing support from fans worldwide, the band were prepared to release the songs "Feed" and "The Room" from the album for free on June 7 to fans who added them as a friend on YouTube before that date,[1] while they continued to work on securing a global album release.

In June 2010, the band were interviewed on the Danish TV talk show The Lounge and performed an acoustic version of the album track "Trigger".

Singles

The album's lead single "Bye Bye Babylon" was released July 19, 2009, with its music video premiering on Cryoshell's official website the following August. A version featuring an alternative 'clean' lyric was released on August 27, 2009 as a free MP3 download from the official Bionicle website, serving as key promotional music for the toy line's Glatorian and Glatorian Legends sets of that year, as well as the official soundtrack to the film Bionicle: The Legend Reborn. A second music video utilizing this version premiered on August 31, 2009.

"Creeping in My Soul" was released as the album's second single on November 29, 2009. Its music video premiered on Cryoshell's official YouTube channel on April 19, 2010. An earlier take of the song was used in the promotional campaign of Bionicle's Barraki toy wave of 2007, released as a free MP3 download from the official Bionicle website in March that year, where it became the #1 most requested download from the server.

Other songs

An earlier version of "Closer to the Truth" – formally used as promotional music in advertising Bionicle's Mistika toy wave – was released as a free download from the official Bionicle website on October 1, 2008; a music video followed its release on October 8. The video was re-released on January 7, 2010 onto Cryoshell's official YouTube channel with the re-recorded mix dubbed over it.

A video of the band rehearsing an acoustic version of "No More Words" was filmed in Copenhagen, Denmark in late 2013 and later released on February 23, 2014. It was recorded and edited by Hannibal Lang-Jensen with Christian Faber and the advertising agency Advance.[2]

Release

Originally announced for a late 2008 release, the album was postponed to early 2009. The band eventually spent the majority of 2009 recording new material; pushing the release to the fall of that year, before it was pushed again to January 30, 2010 when recording sessions were still in progress. That date too eventually passed.

Cryoshell was later announced an official release date of June 7, 2010, but due to difficulties in securing a worldwide release, the album was initially only published in Scandinavia; self-released under the band's own label, Cryoshell I/S, with Voices Music & Entertainment (VME). Cryoshell received later publication in other countries between 2011 and 2012 through different record labels. Although physical CD copies were produced, they are described as hard to obtain.

The band later announced that their debut would be re-issued globally under Greek record label The Leaders with two bonus tracks – "Breakout" (singly released in December 2012) and a remix of "Gravity Hurts" – both of which featuring Danish singer Tine Midtgaard filling in for Lorentzen while the latter was on maternity leave. However, a release date for the re-issue was never announced and is now thought to have been scrapped.

Reception

Original release

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Album Check[3]
Enemy(4/5)[4]
Eyes from the Mosh Pit[5]
Gaffa
Greek Rebels(7.5/10)[6]
MetalZone[7]
The Power of Metal74%[8]
RockHard(6/10)[9]
Sputnikmusic[10]
Stiften[11]

The original release of the album has been met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Sputnikmusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and compared Cryoshell's sound to bands Evanescence, Within Temptation and Linkin Park. They praised lead singer Christine Lorentzen's vocal talents "[soaring] above the instrument mixes," especially on the tracks "Trigger" and "Falling", and how the band "has bigger things in mind than mere promotional songs" and that "String synthesizers, broken chords played on the piano, and driving background electric guitars set an eerie yet powerful mood throughout the album." They however felt that the group lacked lyrically, saying "they range from weak attempts at poetry to straightforward and radio-ready."[10]

RockHard praised Lorenzen's voice as a "very beautiful complexion" with "incredible dynamics" and the reason why the band does not go completely unnoticed.[9] Gaffa gave a mixed review' calling Cryoshell "the Danish equivalent of Evanescence" and classifying them as product placement due to their history with working with Lego. However, they praised the production of producer Jacob Hansen for "getting much out of a small budget" and gave the album 3 out of 6 stars.[12] Stiften described the album as "Heavy and lumbering pathos rock on a bed of melodic keyboard surfaces and strings" calling it "Not a bad offer... [but] does nothing new under the sun relative to the template-band Evanescence who have to suffer the indignity of seeing the shame-plagiarized on Cryoshell's debut."[11]

Danish metal music blog MetalZone called the band "A copy of Evanescence," adding "It's fine to be inspired by a band, but to make a clone of the band is perhaps excessive." They however gave the album 4 out of 6 stars."[7] German music blog Album Check were more positive, giving the album 9 out of 10 stars and describing it as "cinemascope rock," going on to complementing the band as "bursting with passion with good hooks and melodious tunes, the sound of Cryoshell has its own style," with Lorentzen "not only [having] a pretty face, but a lot to offer musically."[3] Enemy, another German music blog, defined Cryoshell as a "darkly symphonic Danish export" and their sound as "Classic dark and foggy converts the trio in their sound-scape" and "a mixture of orchestral elements, piano melodies, coupled with electronic parts and a rocking female voice," adding that the track "'Creeping in My Soul' carries a refrain," giving the album an overall rating of 4 out of 5.[4]

The Power of Metal described the album's sound as "Classic rock spiced up with some more modern influences," and applauded Lorentzen as a "figurehead" and "vital part" of the band who helps to "[Create] a sound that contains moods that are hard, raw, yet fragile and classical." They also praised Hansen's production that gave the band "A balanced and raw rock sound that fit their style very well" that provides the album "Many fine moments and enough catchy tunes to give them a solid foundation for bigger things" and giving Cryoshell an overall rating of 74%.[8] Eyes from the Mosh Pit stated the album has "slick riffs, pounding drums and very dramatic almost end of the world themed lyrics," the tracks with stringed compositions had "a apocalyptic feel" and praised "Bye Bye Babylon" and "Closer to the Truth" as stand out songs in terms of their orchestral arrangements as "they add a film score-like quality to [the tracks]," and gave the album a total of 7 out of 10 stars.[5] Rocktopia were also positive, declaring that all the songs were "full of catchiness" and "equally contagious" and singled out "Bye Bye Babylon" as the best song on the album.[13]

Reissue

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Power of Metal(70/100)[14]
RavenHeart Music(10/10)[15]

The unreleased reissue of Cryoshell has been met to critical acclaim. RavenHeart Music gave the album a perfect 10 out of 10 score, calling it "one of the best debuts for years" and that Cryoshell "have the songs, the sound and the look and could make the USA their own with this record alone" while also praising Lorenzten's vocals as "magnificent" with contrasts to Cristina Scabbia and Shania Twain.[15] Greek Rebels also praised Lorentzen's vocals and how the songs "stick in the mind with catchy melodies." They described the bonus songs as "slightly more diversified and dynamic," making the listener want to replay them repeatedly, giving the album a ranking of 7.5 out of 10.[6] The Power of Metal also reviewed the reissue and gestured the album's sound as "more grown-up" and "diversified and universal" in comparison to Evanescence's sound. They also commented on how Cryoshell's music is not "designed to catch the listener with hook over hook", but rather "lets [them] discover the beauty of their music".[14]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Creeping in My Soul"
3:59
2."Bye Bye Babylon"
4:37
3."Trigger"
  • Søderlund
  • Lorentzen
3:52
4."Feed"
  • Søderlund
  • Lorentzen
4:19
5."Closer to the Truth"
  • Maltha
4:02
6."Falling"
  • Søderlund
  • Lorentzen
4:26
7."The Room"
  • Maltha
4:04
8."Come to My Heaven"
  • Søderlund
  • Lorentzen
3:53
9."Murky"
  • Maltha
  • Søderlund
3:56
10."No More Words"
  • Lorentzen
3:42
Total length:40:34
Notes
  • Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6 and 9 also appear on the EP Creeping in My Soul.
  • "Bye Bye Babylon" is shortened on its single release.

Personnel

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Denmark June 7, 2010
  • Cryoshell I/S
  • VME
Norway
Sweden
Japan February 9, 2011
  • Indies Japan
  • Zoom
Worldwide Digital download Cryoshell I/S
Germany September 16, 2011
  • CD
  • digital download
  • Soul Food
  • VME
United Kingdom November 3, 2011 CD Voices of Wonder
Worldwide February 10, 2012
  • Cryoshell I/S
  • VME

References

  1. "Cryoshell blog 30 May 2010". CryoshellTV. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  2. "Live news from Cryoshell". Christian Faber. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  3. "Album Check, Cryoshell of Cryoshell". Album Check. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  4. "Cryoshell - Cryoshell". Enemy. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  5. "Review 'Cyroshell'". Eyes from the Mosh Pit. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  6. "Cryoshell - Cryoshell [Re-Issue] (The Leaders)". Greek Rebels Team. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  7. "CD-anmeldelse: Cryoshell - Cryoshell". MetalZone. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  8. "Cryoshell - Cryoshell". Power of Metal. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  9. "CRYOSHELL - Cryoshell (Voices Music & Entertainment)". RockHard. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  10. "Cryoshell". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  11. "Cryoshell: »Cryoshell«". Arhus Stiftstidende. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  12. "Cryoshell". Gaffa DK. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  13. "Cryoshell - 'Cryoshell'". Rocktopia. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  14. "Cryoshell; Cryoshell". The Power of Metal. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  15. "CRYOSHELL...S/T". Ravenheart Music. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
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