Temple Of Dread are a German death metal band, around since about 2017 and have been steadily releasing music since 2019 making this their fifth full length. And of course that means they are a completely new name to me.
As I hit play my assumptions are that Temple Of Dread are a cohesive, coherent unit who have settled on the sound and style they want by now and are pushing that forward. The second assumption is based entirely on the cover so we’ll leave that aside for the moment.
Off we go…
‘Carnage ritual’ is a tumult of fast drumming and riffing, a nicely produced sound immediately and roaring vocals. It’s a little bit down-tuned but not overly and the sound borders of technicality with a clean production and lots of tempo changes and runs. The only thing I can add is that frankly for an opener it is one of those sounds that if you’re a fan of borderline tech/melodeath with a bit more grunt than normal it will probably hit hard enough. If you’re not, it will genuinely come across as spirited but pretty generic. Which is where I found myself.
Still we progress to ‘Spawn Of Filth’, the obligatory slowing of tempo and a little menace in the downbeat, chug. A bit of groove comes in too. No idea what the lyrics are about but, even as it picks up a little pace. It’s a death metal song about something standard and it’s the guitar riffs and breaks and tempo that is supposed to hook me.
Sadly it doesn’t.
Most of the songs here hover around just above or just below the five minute mark. Which again is pretty much what I expect from this style of death metal; just long enough for them to lose me I’m afraid.
It did my due diligence. I have listened to this repeatedly; really listened to it, no distractions. Which has been hard. No, this is not for me and not aimed at me, so if you’re a fan of slightly tech modern death metal with a touch of melodic death to it then have a go. Temple Of Dread are slick and cohesive. They also know a good cover artist when they see one (the prolific but excellent oil master Paolo Giradi) but even the excellent cover is just too obvious. There are no surprises here – from cover through seemingly generic lyrics to last note this is exactly the kind of death metal that does nothing for me I’m afraid. It is achingly modern, slick, death metal hammered from a template. For me the really sad thing is that, genuinely, they sound and feel like an absolutely cracking bunch of musicians, a real band of focus heading down exactly the path they want to be on so kudos to them. Only I really don’t get why anyone goes down said path; band or listener.
So in a nutshell; please take into account that this really isn’t my thing at all. This is not the kind of death metal I have any affinity for at all I’m afraid and it’s just a bit sad that I’m the one who ended up with this review I guess. I can almost hear other colleagues staring at me with disbelief. But nothing grabs me and stays with me to raise it above generic. And a quick wiz around some other sites and mags I know and respect suggests I’m in the minority too.
For me, excellent musicians (and I’m not just saying that) playing music I just don’t get or feel anything for. You’ll find me way lower down in the filth and the muck. Sorry guys.
(5/10 Gizmo)
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