So this is the new Obituary; the album that some of us have been clamoring for nigh on a decade to hear. And guess what? It doesn't sound all that different from what we expected. More specifically, I could very easily brand _Frozen in Time_ to be _Cause of Death_'s older, beefier brother, and you'd have more than enough information to form a comprehensive idea of what this album sounds like.

The thing is: what did people really expect Obituary to do? A concept album? An in-depth, progressive exploration of early European folk music? Obituary have always -- since the days of _Slowly We Rot_, right through to their erstwhile swansong in _Back From the Dead_ -- been all about simplicity; austere riffing laid over thick slabs of pounding, neck-snapping groove. _Frozen in Time_ is no different. This is the record that Obituary's fans have wanted, and that's what they've been given -- no more, no less.

However, as quick as some of their detractors will undoubtedly be to judge them, _Frozen in Time_ is also possibly the most cohesive and consummate Obituary album to date. Where an album like _The End Complete_ produced a clutch of 24-carat classics, it was also drizzled with several smatterings of laborious cack. Not so on this record; _Frozen in Time_ is Obituary doing what they've always done best: always heavy, always groovy, and for possibly the first time in their career, never boring. Now, that last statement is of course open for debate; but if you've always been an Obituary fan, it's a virtual assurance that this record is all pay dirt.