Scott's Spotlight #23-- Frost*
Originally posted to Facebook on March 6, 2025
Link to post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DPyCYm3Tr/
Welcome to Scott’s Spotlight (#scottsspotlight) issue #23. For more information about this series, please click here:
This week, I am featuring the prog band Frost* (yes, the asterisk is part of the name), not to be confused with the great early 70s hard rock band fronted by Dick Wagner of Alice Cooper fame called alternatively Frost or The Frost. Frost* was founded in 2006 by Jem Godfrey (brother of Simon Godfrey a great prog artist in his own right). Jem had been well known in the UK for producing and/or writing some big hit pop songs in the 90s and early 2000s, winning at least 2 “Ivor Novello Awards” in the process. Jem had a background in Prog, however, and by 2004, had written a number of prog songs and wanted to form a band to record the songs properly. Jem would play keyboards and contribute vocals. His first recruit was prog guitarist, extraordinaire John Mitchell, then known for playing with notable prog bands Arena, The Urbane, and Kino (later of It Bites and the outstanding Lonely Robot), who would also contribute vocals. Upon agreeing to work with Godfrey, Mitchell introduced Godfrey to his Arena bandmate, bassist John Jowitt (also of IQ and Jadis) Drummer Andy Edwards would come in next, having played with Jowitt in IQ (also formerly of Robert Plant’s band). Godfrey’s bandmate from his earlier prog band Freefall, John Boyes, would round out the initial Frost* lineup on rhythm guitar, having already contributed to the demos.
(I’m dropping the asterisk for the rest of this article for easier typing, I’m already a horrible typist as it is, I don’t need that to keep slowing me down, lol. I hope Jem understands if he should see this.)
Frost’s first album would create quite a splash in the prog community when it was released in the summer of 2006. “Milliontown” was named for its 26 minute + closing epic. Prog fans in 2006 considered it one of the best prog albums of the year, and I can see why. Another notable track is the 10 minute “Black Light Machine.” After a brief tour in 2006, Jem surprised the prog community on his MySpace blog (remember those?) that Frost was to be dissolved after the 4 remaining tour dates that were already booked, due to his “increasing professional and personal commitments elsewhere.” The final show was to be RoSFest 2007, which ended up being canceled, therefore the final date was in London on December 6, 2006.
So, that’s the end of the sto…wait, hold on…
In early 2007. Jem wrote on MySpace that he would indeed revive Frost and had begun writing material for a second Frost album. John Boyes would not be included in this lineup, but Godfrey would bring in Declan Burke of Darwin’s Radio to sing lead and play acoustic guitar, while the others would all return. During a break in recording in 2008, Frost would open for Spock’s Beard on a short tour (See my earlier spotlight on them here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AF7apC3HA/) The album, titled, “Experiments in Mass Appeal” was released in November 2008. It features a 15+ minute epic closer titled “Wonderland/Secret Song” as that time includes a hidden track as well as the proper “Wonderland.” Around the time of the album’s release, drummer Andy Edwards would announce his departure from playing live with the band, but would be open to recording with them in the future, as he had taken a job as a college professor. Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard, Genesis, later Big Big Train, among others) agreed to fill in on drums for their appearance at RoSFest 2009. For the 2009 tour dates with Dream Theater (see their spotlight here:https://www.facebook.com/share/p/xN5tjmS5NzJzQymd/ ) , Andy Edwards briefly returned, and former Level 42 bassist Nathan King began his tenure as the new Frost bassist. Following the RoSFest appearance, Declan Burke left the band, and Godfrey, Mitchell and King continued as a drummerless trio for a few low key gigs. Later, Craig Blundell (later with Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett, Kino, and Lonely Robot) would be announced as the new Frost drummer.
In early 2010, in honor of the 10th anniversary of The Dividing Line–a prog radio station in Vancouver, BC, Canada– Godfrey challenged himself to write and record a new Frost song in the 8 weeks that he had between finding out about the event and the date of the 10th anniversary party. He delivered with a song called, appropriately, “The Dividing Line,” that clocked in at nearly 17 minutes. For the occasion, Godfrey called in former members Andy Edwards, Declan Burke and John Boyes, as well as guests Tara Bush, Mark “madfiddler” Knight, and Lyndon Connah. It initially appeared as a bonus track on the live album “The Philadelphia Experiment.” The song is now available on the compilation “This and That (B-Sides and Rarities)” The band would play a small number of gigs in 2010. In March 2011, Jem Godfrey announced that Frost would be put on an “indefinite hiatus,” for health reasons, and feeling uncomfortable as bandleader.
So, that’s the end of the sto…wait, hold on…
In September of 2011, Godfrey announced that he would be reconvening Frost for a third album, details not yet determined. The band then performed a sold out Christmas show at the House of Progression, Kingston upon Thames on December 16, 2011. They next performed a year and a half later in May 2013, at a prog festival in London’s famed Hippodrome. In December of 2013, Frost released a DVD/CD called “The Rockfield Files,” which featured “Live in studio” performances of several older Frost songs and a then-new track called “Heartstrings.” (A Demo of “Heartstrings” is included in the aforementioned “This and That.” ) The song would appear on the next album, see the next paragraph.
An announcement that the new album was underway with John Mitchell, Nathan King and Craig Blundell all on board finally came in May of 2015. Recording began in December of that year, and was completed in February, 2016, but not released until May 2016 (nearly 5 years after Godfrey initially mentioned it). The album is called “Falling Satellites” and features guest appearances from Tori Beaumont, Mark Knight and Joe Satriani (with whom Craig Blundell had earlier toured with). Interestingly, there are no tracks over 8 minutes, with the longest (and longest title too) being “The Raging Against the Dying of the Light Blues in 7-8,” clocking in at 7:50. I have also enjoyed the second longest track “Closer to the Sun,” which is 7:21, and the previously mentioned “Heartstrings,” (6:21). The band released their first music video for the song “Numbers.” Some notable live appearances following the release of “Falling Satellites” include Cruise to the Edge 2017, and at Dingwalls in London, which was recorded and released in 2020 as “Falling Satellive–2017.”
In May of 2019, it was announced that Craig Blundell was leaving Frost. According to Wikipedia, it was due to scheduling conflicts and “being entirely too successful.” In their appearance at Cruise to the Edge in 2019, Nick D’Virgilio filled in on drums again. In July of 2019, Frost released an EP called “Others” consisting of six tracks from earlier recording sessions that were completed and initially released as a “fans only’ digital download, but eventually saw wider release, It appears that Craig Blundell is the primary drummer on the EP, but Andy Edwards is also credited, and one source even lists Nick D’Virgilio as appearing it. If anyone can clarify, please feel free in the comments. I have enjoyed “Clouda,” and “Exhibit A,” from this release.
At around the same time as “Others” was released, Godfrey and Mitchell got together to begin writing the next Frost album, in September of 2019. In November of 2020, they released an 8 CD box set called “13 Winters” with remastered versions of each of the first 3 albums, an instrumental version of “Falling Satellites,” “Others,” “Falling Satellive,” “The Philadelphia Experiment–Live 2009” and the “This and That…” album I have previously mentioned. (I guess that’s how Jem Godfrey spent quarantine, lol).
The fourth full-length Frost studio album appeared in May of 2021, called “Day and Age.” Godfrey, Mitchell and King worked with three guest drummers: Kaz Rodriguez, Darby Todd and the legendary King Crimson alumni Pat Mastelotto. The actor Jason Isaacs (Star Trek Discovery) provides a spoken word part on “The Boy Who Stood Still.” The title track is both the opener and the longest track at almost 12 minutes. I have enjoyed “Skywards” quite a bit as well.
In November of 2022, Craig Blundell posted a notice on his website that he had returned to Frost. In August 2024, Godfrey announced that Frost was releasing their first double CD studio album, called “Life in the Wires.” On the website https://distortedsoundmag.com/frost-announce-new-album.../, Godfrey says:
“Every prog band worth their salt really should do a double album, shouldn’t they?” Asks Frost* frontman Jem Godfrey. “We’ve always kind of had this idea of wanting to do one. So I sat down last summer and thought, well, I’m just gonna have to get my head down and go for it.”
He later states that the album is a “continuation” of “Day and Age.” The album has 14 tracks and runs nearly an hour and a half. The longest track is “Life in the Wires, Pt. 2,” which runs nearly 16 minutes and is the penultimate track. (Part one is five and a half minutes and is the second track on the album.) on the band’s website, the concept is described as such:
The story revolves around the main character Naio, an aimless kid heading for a meaningless future in an A.I. run world. He hears an old DJ talking on the ancient AM radio his mother once gave him and decides to trace the source of the signal and find “Livewire” to see if there’s a better future out there. However, the All Seeing Eye is less than impressed at this bid for independent thought and fights back. Soon Naio finds himself pursued across the country by an outraged mob as he tries to locate the home of Livewire and his freedom.
In 2025, Frost has already released a non-album single called “Western Atmosphere.” So it appears that the days of Godfrey discontinuing the band between resurrections is over, at least for now. Bottom line–if you are looking for high quality prog on par with the 70s heyday, yet with some modern accents, check out Frost*. It’s worth a listen. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the “Links for Listening” below.
Links for Listening:
From “Milliontown”
“Black Light Machine”
“Milliontown”
From “Experiments in Mass Appeal”:
“Experiments In Mass Appeal”
“Wonderland/Secret Song”
From “Falling Satellites”
“Closer to the Sun”
“Heartstrings”
From “Others” (EP)
“Exhibit A”
From “This and That (B-Sides and Rarities)”
“The Dividing Line”
From: “ Day and Age”
“Skywards”
“Kill the Orchestra”
From “Life in the Wires”
“Evaporator”
“Propergander”
2025 Single:
“Western Atmosphere”
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