Review by Daniel for Temple Nightside - The Hecatomb (2016)

Aussie death metal outfit Temple Nightside seem to have slipped under most Metal Academics’s radars in recent years but a quick Google search will see a lot of extreme metal aficionados harbouring great hope for their 2016 third album “The Hecatomb” given the enormous pedigree of the individuals involved. Vocalist/guitarist Mitchell Keepin has been involved with several noteworthy black metal projects including Austere, Naxzul & Pestilential Shadows while also being the sole member of funeral doom metal act Funeral Mourning, New Zealand-based guitarist Phil Kusabs has spent time with everyone from Diocletian to Qrixkuor to Ulcerate to Vassafor along with having performed live with Canadian war metal godfathers Blasphemy & Russian death/black metal band Pseudogod while bassist Bjorn Rusell is the main man behind highly regarded Aussie doom/death duo Grave Upheaval so there’s an absolute shit-tonne of experience behind the team responsible for “The Hecatomb”. That knowledge doesn’t go to waste here either as the album is absolutely oozing of a deep understanding of what makes death metal so appealing at its most primal level. It’s filthy, it’s brutal, it’s atmospheric & it’s cripplingly dark so it ticks almost all of the boxes that any self-respecting death metal nut might have when going into an underground release. To its credit, these things are combined to produce a consistently engaging, entertaining & high-quality release too.

If you’re looking for an ultra-clinical tech death record with dazzling displays of technical prowess & a super-clean production job then “The Hecatomb” may not be what you’re looking for as Temple Nightside have taken a very different path with their approach here. The production is kept intentionally a little murky in the interest of creating a seriously dark atmosphere that takes the listener well outside of their comfort zone. All of the instruments & melodic themes are still easily discernible though so they’ve done a marvellous job at giving this beast of a record a level of accessibility that not all of the band’s peers are so fortunate to achieve. The cavernous drum sound is worth mentioning as it’s a long way from the clicky triggered sounds that a lot of the death metal scene resorts to by default these days. Keepin’s vocals are very much what you’d expect from a darker modern death metal release in that they’re deep & monstrous but also present themselves with a whispery quality at times which reminds me the delivery of several funeral death metal artists. The wonderful cover artwork is a strikingly apt representation of the sounds you can expect to hear too which is a nice touch.

I’ve noticed Temple Nightside being labelled as a blackened death metal artist on multiple online resources over the last few days but I’m not picking up much in the way of black metal on “The Hecatomb” to tell you the truth. There is however a significant dose of doom on offer though, almost enough to warrant a dual tagging. In fact, many of the doomier moments are amongst of the stronger parts of the album in my opinion, particularly on doom/death monster “Within The Arms Of Nothingness” which is probably my favourite of the six proper songs included, closely followed by “Fortress of Burden & Distress”. Nine minute closer “Charnel Winds” pushes all the way out into funeral doom metal territory & pulls it off with ease too while the three short interludes are a brilliant addition to the unblemished tracklisting, so much so that I’d suggest that they wouldn’t sound out of place on one of the more premium dark ambient releases. The only negative point I will make is that I feel that “Graven” was possibly not the best track to open with. I went into the release with high expectations coming off the back of Ben’s positive feedback but, despite still being an entertaining listen, “Graven” is the track that I find to be the least appealing of the nine on offer so it took me a couple of listens to see my position on “The Hecatomb” reaching its full potential.

The diSEMEBOWLMENT influence Ben picked up on in his review is obvious at times although Temple Nightside don’t explore as wide, twisted & avant-garde array of influences, preferring to harness the more deathly components of their idol’s sound & getting pretty close in terms of atmosphere on occasion too. They possess a similar aesthetic to darker, noisier death metal bands like Antediluvian or fellow Aussies Portal only their more traditional riff structures sit closer to an old school death metal act like Incantation. On paper that sounds like an enticing concoction & the reality is pretty accurate to that description with “The Hecatomb” being a highly rewarding & undeniably professional death metal release that will likely offer plenty of appeal for the genre’s purists through its commitment to a truly graven & deeply atmospheric experience.