The name Temple Of Scorn may be new to you, as it was to me, but the band members within certainly aren’t as all the guys play in a raft of other more notable acts such as Horned Almighty, Bæst and Dawn Of Demise to name a few. Previously the band released an EP called ‘Preliminary Mass’ in 2021 and all the songs on that release make an appearance on this debut full length. With an intro piece called ‘Subsequent Mass’ which I am assuming is a follow up to what the EP’s title is serves to lead the album into the old school death metal annihilation that follows on ‘Burden Of Decline’, a tune that appeared on the EP. The Danes use a brutal vitriolic guitar sound that is somewhere between the US variety and the Scandinavian chainsaw type as the song switches its tempos into a doom-death foray of impending dread.

That sinister aura continues into ‘Begotten By The Envenomed’ to some degree, though the song hurtles out of the blocks with frenzied blasts before diverting to a grisly slower tempo of sonic horror. There is a hideous toning to this album, created by the guitar work but also the disembowelling vocal tone as the song plunges into miasmic doom-death slurry. I really do like death metal bands that vary the speed of their songs instead of favouring all out battering as ‘Icons Of Demonic Virtues’ proves so brilliantly and is also a song that appeared on the EP. The much slower crawling speed is saturated in double bass as the eerie riff seems to linger and hover on the mix like a drifting ghoul. The cracking riff break that intercedes is magnificent and signals the songs shift into blast realms with devastating results.

Weirdly the first half of this album is much shorter than the second which for me begins with another EP tune called ‘Portals Of Dystopia’ which is a monstrous assault. Its grotesquery is founded upon the cloying oppressive sound as the songs half blasted tempo manifests crushing double bass and deformed writhing vocals. It is these slower tracks that really grabbed my attention because they are just so hideously effective as the penetrating opacity continues with the title track. The hypnotic eerie guitar melody lures you in, its dread filled assault is cataclysmically dramatic with a pervading density that fans of bands such as Incantation, Dead Congregation and Ignivomous will like. There is a funereal like quality to the title track, primarily down to its speed but also when the riff break appears about half way in it catapults the songs intensity into sludge filled terror.

‘Wretched Inner Sanctum’ completely reverses the tempos, sending the song towards a blasted aura before the favoured doom-death kicks in. Again the bands use of potent riff breaks is jaw-dropping as the cascading drum work rains down with unceremonious brutality. Closing the album is the gargantuan ‘Burning Palace Of Wisdom’, the dread like atmosphere is fantastic, as the song builds superbly with more penetrating doom-death riffing. Here the pacing is thoroughly funeral like, slithering around with an ominous tone as the double bass gradually infests the songs opening minute or so. As it diverts into a more traditional doom like ethos that eeriness creeps back in alongside the gruesome vocals. The song is utterly pulverising, it uses that slow pervading density to really grind you to pulp but still reeks of melody. As the song enters its last third it unveils a creepy effect into the mix created by the guitar work as the pace seems to slow substantially and drifts the song towards its ghoulish finale.

I’ve listened to a lot of doom-death this year but few come close to horror strewn suffocation of Temple Of Scorn, this album surely marks them down as one of the best newcomers to the death metal scene this decade with ease, even if the band are established players. A monumentally brilliant album.

(9.5/10 Martin Harris)

https://www.facebook.com/templeofscorn

https://templeofscorndm.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-altar-epiphanies