Heavy Frozen Strings- An Interview with Frozen Soul Bass Player Sam Mobley
Death metal is one of those very special genres of music where the barrier for entry seems low on the outside because some people have a hard time getting past the look or the gutturals or the brutality, but once you’re inside the genre and a fan you are able to appreciate the technicality and musicianship of those who play it. This also means that while death metal seems like an easy genre to play, it’s an extremely difficult genre to play well.
Texas death metal newcomers Frozen Soul play it very very well. They’ve released three singles from their upcoming album Crypt of Ice, out on Century Media on January 8th, and immediately comparisons to bands like death metal legends Bolt Thrower started coming their way. This is classic death metal in 2020, and it’s just what fans of brutality are looking for.
Frozen Soul bass player Samantha Mobley was gracious enough to exchange email with me and talk about the band, dropping an album during a pandemic, why a Texas band would choose an ice theme, and what her weapons of choice are.
image credit- Sam Mobley
Doug Robertson- What gear are you using? What's your bass, head, cab, pedal situation? What is it about these tools that you find help you get the tone you're looking for?
Sam Mobley- I currently alternate between a 87 NJ BC Rich Warlock with DiMarzio pickups in it, and a 5 string Legacy Series Widow with active EMG pickups. I just bought an 87 Ironbird, and had some new pickups installed, but I’m still not quite satisfied with the tone just yet.
My pedal board consists of a Decimator, the Lone Wolf Audio Caveman pedal, a Metal Muff (which I don’t use very often anymore) and my tuner. Pretty simple. For my cab I play on a 8x10 Ampeg, for my head I use an Ampeg SVT4PRO.
DR- Going from the live videos I can find online, you play four string basses rather than five. Are you stringing them BEAD? And why go with the four instead of five? Paolo Rossi of Fleshgod Apocalypse does the same and he inspired me to string one of mine the same.
SM- Yes, I have only played four strings in the past. I string them to play in drop A (AEAD ). I’m actually playing a five string currently! I will say that after purchasing my five string , I’m preferring that over my four string basses for sure. It sounds much deeper and heavier overall.
DR- How long have you been playing? Why bass?
SM- I have been playing about two years now. I picked up bass at the end of 2018. I started practicing or “cutting my teeth” with a black metal band called Vermiculated. While short lived, it allowed me to get my chops up and get some experience under my belt. We broke up right before I started playing with Frozen Soul, and shortly after (about a month or two after recording the Vermiculated demo) we recorded the Frozen Soul demo (December 2018).
Bass always seemed like a lot of fun, and I have always wanted to play in a death metal band. Guitarists are a dime a dozen, and I assumed I was too late in the game to attempt to try to be a guitar player when there’s already too many out there. I figured I’d shoot my shot with Frozen Soul as a bass player, and the rest is history.
DR- Frozen Soul first got together in 2018 according to your Facebook page. And from the outside that makes the rise to being signed by Century Media very quick. How has it felt from inside the band
SM- Yes, it’s been pretty crazy to say the least. We put out the demo in February of last year (2019). We were signed at the beginning of this year to Century Media, so roughly a year’s time being a band. I think we can all agree that this has felt pretty surreal. I don’t think any of us thought that we would make it this far, but it’s honestly one of the most indescribable, badass feelings that I’ve ever felt. The pandemic has temporarily knocked the wind out of our sails touring wise, but once we are allowed to tour again I’m sure it’ll finally sink in and we can enjoy the fruits of our labor from this year.
DR- Death metal is not known for cutting, clear bass tones outside of a few exceptions. What is your approach to filling our rightful space when dealing with music that is already tuned so low?
SM- I basically just try to be as punchy as possible without overpowering the guitars. I try to be as heavy as possible- the nastier the tone the better.
DR- Your band has been favorably compared to Bolt Thrower and other 90s death metal bands quite a bit. Who are your inspirations when it comes to bass specifically and writing your parts? Because the riffs are massive.
SM- Yes, we get compared to Bolt Thrower quite a bit! I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I take it as quite the compliment. Jo Bench (Bolt Thrower) and Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) are my two main influences on bass.
DR- You’re also a tattoo artist. Is having a tattoo artist in the band as cool as it sounds like it would be? Do the guys ever get that Look and go, "trade you a bass solo at the next show for some ink."
SM- Being a tattoo artist is pretty cool. I’ve never had anyone ask for anything besides money in exchange for tattoos. I do trades sometimes for stuff I need that isn’t money. If they had a cool bass to trade I’d be down to tattoo them!
DR- The video for "Encased in Ice" is properly death metal brutal. How did you feel when you saw it for the first time?
SM- I loved it. We played with Obituary back in February, and unbeknownst to us, it was going to be the last show we played for the year because of Covid. We had already arranged to have it filmed from several different angles to use for music video footage. Luckily, it was one of the best shows we’ve put on. The energy was palpable. Everyone was going nuts and we used that footage for the video. It was a great time! We had fleshed out a story board with Tanner McCardle , and he did an amazing job creating and piecing together the video exactly how we wanted it.
DR- I'm incredibly excited for Crypt of Ice to hit in January. Clearly, dropping an album during a global pandemic is less than ideal. What is the band doing to keep the wheels turning in this difficult time for live music? Will there be a streaming concert like Behemoth, Devin Townsend, and others have done?
SM- We’ve just been shooting music videos for the new record , doing interviews and getting promotional things ready and practicing and looking forward to January 8th. We have something pretty cool that we’ve put together for a live stream coming up, but I can’t say much more than that! [Ed. Note- I will update this interview as this information gets released, so check back.]
DR- I have to ask- When I think of Texas I do not think of cold and ice. Can you talk about the ice-theme of the band and what that means?
SM- Yeah, Texas is pretty hot most of the time.
We wanted to incorporate a band theme that was both true to the brutal nature of death metal without being played out . We like to think our theme sets us apart and gives us a different feel than most bands.
It may be hot here, but we’re cold blooded.
DR- What can our readers do to support Frozen Soul?
SM- Buy our records and merch, share our music and videos and come to our shows when they happen again.
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You can follow Frozen Soul on all the places- Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/YouTube/Spotify. Find their music all over as well. If you’ve been feeling the need for new death metal that feels like old school death metal, Frozen Soul is a band you can jump on at the ground floor because they are the real deal and everyone in metal will be watching them for a long time. Crypt of Ice lands January 8th, get your pre-order in now. Thanks to Sam for the interview and the time, and I hope things clear up soon and we all can meet in the pit.
Doug Robertson is the editor of The Bass Blog, the blog component of The Bass Channel, your one stop YouTube channel for all things bass. His number one is a Mexican Geddy Lee Signature Jazz and his boomer is a BEAD tuned T-Bird. Find books by Doug here. If you’re interested in contributing to The Bass Blog please reach out to Doug at doug@thebasschannel.net. We would love to hear from you.
