Review by Sandre the Giant
Another day, another new release from my favourite record label. Transcending Obscurity’s newest find is Danish death metallers Temple of Scorn, whose debut EP ‘Prelimenary Mass’ was well received in 2021. Their debut full length, ‘Funeral Altar Epiphanies’, is out in November on TO, and promises to bring much heaviness to those of us in need.
As the looming tension of ‘Subsequent Mass’ breaks into the bruising ‘Burdern of Decline’, it is apparent immediately that Temple of Scorn mean business. A heady mix of low end powered Benediciton/Bolt Thrower style death metal, which seems to be the flavour of the moment, but overlaid with a real suffocating atmosphere. Everything sounds like it is dripping with decay, even the faster tracks like ‘Portals to Dystopia’ or ‘Wretched Inner Sanctum’, nothing providing a barrier to the atmospheric heft. ‘Funeral Altar Epiphanies’ seems to really value that atmosphere; giving everything an ancient eldritch feeling. I’m getting some Immolation vibes in the swaying ‘Icons of Demonic Virtues’, and the swooning, almost gothic doom of the title track is one of my favourite pieces of the year. There is a consistency throughout the record that I appreciate it; you’ll never be surprised by anything but impressed by everything.
Modern death metal is pretty much the most diverse genre out there these days. You have bands chasing the primal, the dissonance, the unbearably technical, the old school and the blackened. Temple of Scorn have decided to take the old fashioned route and rely on weight and atmosphere to get themselves over the wall. On ‘Funeral Altar Epiphanies’, it really works and I hope that people will take note of this record as I think these Danes are ready to finally take the Asphyx/Bolt Thrower cliche and carve their own bloodied name into that.
https://www.facebook.com/templeofscorn
https://templeofscorn.bandcamp.com/album/preliminary-mass
https://transcendingobscurity.bandcamp.com/
The Killchain 