In Greek mythology, the Acheron river was regarded as cursed. Although not a theme album as such, this work’s subjects cover the underworld, plague, fire, decay and hell. The band portray all this with their brand of death metal, and have the advantage of coming from the inhospitable Frisian islands off the north coast of the Netherlands to call upon as inspiration. This is their fourth album release.

Drums beat tribally. The intro sets an imposing scene in readiness for the fiery and raw-sounding blackened death which follows. The title song goes on at a fair lick. The guitar sound is stripped back. A flamboyant solo cuts in. It’s noteworthy that the recording studio is the one that Dew Scented used – I hear the same style of uncompromising thrash in this. Another link is God Dethroned, whose head member and guitarist features on this album. The attack is old-fashioned in its way, with the hell-for-leather drum and guitar work, and raucous vocals. But Temple of Dread know how to manage atmosphere and tempo, as they do on “World Below” when they plunge into a tragic and overbearing world, commendably exploiting the dark atmosphere, where other bands might have missed the opportunity by returning to the main ball of fire too quickly. I liked “World Below”, and found that increasingly this album was gaining momentum. “Damnation” has the harshness and desolation of grainy Norwegian black metal, before heading into a driving passage with death metal melody. This is a well-constructed and captivating song from a band who are noticeably very clear and professional about what they do. “Dance of Decay” reverts to an energetic death metal style with less frills. The intensity has been cranked up again. Along with this, the mood darkens on “All Consuming Fire”. Venom is never spewed out without purpose, and again the drum and rhythm guitar lead a co-ordinated assault as death metal menace blends into a punkish, thrash-style assault.

On all the songs, there’s plenty of content but there’s plenty of interest in the musical developments within them. The hard-hitting driving heaviness of “The Plague” has an air of second-generation black metal, but as ever the song develops with breaks, a thrashy section and with rising tension and menace. Temple of Dread blend the styles and change tempo to create more atmosphere and interest. All the time it’s ferocious and dirty. “The plague will hit us all” is the lyrical message. The music does justice to the sharp level of threat. Off we race again with the contemptuous “Carnality Device”, another well-ordered and vibrant song whose purpose seems to be to convey menace and lay waste to everything around it. On the short “Asebeia”, the band once more unite in creating a maelstrom of fury. It all leads ultimately to “Hades”. It starts darkly and ominously. It makes a change from the direct assault approach to which we have become accustomed. It continues instrumentally and in the latter stages symphonically, and leaves us with one final act of menace.

“Beyond Acheron” is an accomplished album. Fiery and intense, Temple of Dread leave nothing on the table after battering us with blasts of fury and combinations of death metal finery. It’s perhaps not as bleak as I expected as Temple of Dread’s music is colourful in its variations and structures, but this works out as a plus point, and there’s no doubt that the band get their dark point across on this engaging album.

(8/10 Andrew Doherty)

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https://testimonyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/temple-of-dread-beyond-acheron