Frozen Crown

History

After releasing their first two albums, The Fallen King and Crowned in Frost, Frozen Crown played ten European venues in April 2019 alongside Israeli metal act Desert and fellow Italian act Elvenking. That summer they appeared at Metalfest Czech Republic and Sabaton Open Air in Sweden. In February 2020, they toured 13 European cities in support of British metal group DragonForce. A planned summer tour in 2020 including Spanish venues was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2020, the band announced that their third album was officially in pre-production. In January 2021, the band announced that Alberto Mezzanotte, Thalia Bellazecca, and Filippo Zavattari left for personal reasons, citing difficulty being part of a band during lockdown. A final video with the original lineup, "Battles in the Night", was released as a farewell. A month later, new members were announced: guitarist Fabiola "Sheena" Bellomo, bassist Francesco Zof, and drummer Niso Tomasini, alongside the new album Winterbane. The album was already underway when the former members left, and as Mondelli and Etro are the main songwriters, the departure did not cause significant delay. Winterbane was released in April by Scarlett Records, and by Marquee Inc. / Avalon in Japan. The band described it as their most obscure work, consolidating their trademark sound with a straightforward approach featuring powerful drums and thundering bass lines, with richer and more intricate guitar work. The album includes a cover of Judas Priest's "Night Crawler" and guest vocals by Federica Lanna from Volturian on "Angels in Disguise". Previous videoclips for "Far Beyond" and "Embrace the Night" were released, and a video for "The Water Dancer" accompanied the album, with aesthetics based on A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones, featuring a guest appearance by Damien Von Dunkenwald and his Northern Wolfdogs Pack. On 10 March 2023, Frozen Crown released its fourth studio album, Call of the North. The following day, the band began touring in support of the album and fellow Italian metal act Nanowar of Steel across 19 European venues. In June 2023 the band announced they had signed a deal with Napalm Records for the release of their upcoming album, leaving Scarlett Records. On 5 September 2023, Frozen Crown announced the addition of Alessia Lanzone, a third guitarist. Lanzone, aged 18, had only played in a local cover band before then. She was a fan of Frozen Crown and followed them on social networks; the band met her because of her videos playing guitar. Mondelli explained that the band writes highly complex guitar solos, sometimes in excess of 16 guitar layers, too complex for him and Bellomo to play live. Sound engineers proposed backing tracks, but Mondelli rejected the idea, preferring to add a new real person to the band. War Hearts, the fifth album and the first with Napalm Records, was released in October 2024. The band said: "War Hearts is our fifth album, but it's also the first one as a six-piece band and the first one on Napalm Records. It's also the first album where all members actually make their appearance on the recording. For these reasons, War Hearts represents a new beginning, a fresh start, and it may be considered the first episode of FROZEN CROWN ‘reboot’." The first single was "Steel and Gold", filmed on Castello dei Doria, in Dolceacqua, Italy. The band headed the Milady Metal Fest at the end of 2024, followed by their first headlining tour across Europe alongside Fellowship and Lutharo. Fabiola Bellomo left the band after the tour to focus on personal duties and try other music genres. She was replaced by Serbian guitarist Aleksandra Stamenković, who fronts the band Jenner and adopts the artistic name "Alexandra Lioness." Besides her role as a guitarist, she aids Mondelli in videomaking, producer and manager work. Although she lives in a distant country, the band took her as a member because of the help she provided during Jade's health problems and the lineup changes. The band was announced as a supporting act for Kamelot on the Dark Asylum Tour in North America on February 24, 2026, along with Visions of Atlantis. The band will release their upcoming sixth album, The Legend of the Six Kings, on 2 October 2026.