Filthy Music Review - 'Temple of Void: Of Terror and the Supernatural'

Temple of Void – Of Terror and the Supernatural (2014)

Saw Her Ghost Records/Without End Records

Review by Jude Felton

It’s always nice to see a band, of whom you have followed since their demo days, finally get that first full-length album released. This is especially satisfying considering the sheer volume of demos out there; most of which are available at the click of your mouse. Back in the day it was all hand-drawn J-cards, Xeroxed to death, and if you were lucky you’d get your hands on a tenth generation copy. It was all word of mouth and scouring the demo section of Metal Forces magazine!

Temple of Void first came to my attention back in 2013, when I had the chance to check out their Demo MMXIII CD (and the tape I might add). It kicked ass (you can check out the review here) and hinted at some sort of beast, that I hoped would soon follow. Little did I know that they’d be unleashing a behemoth, with Of Terror and the Supernatural.

The Detroit 5 piece does not fuck about, and open the album with the thunder that is The Embalmer’s Art. This is an animal of a track, with riffs that will tear you asunder and Mike Erdody’s vocals adding venom to this cracking tune.

Temple of Void deliver a hybrid of doom and death metal that gels perfectly; one minute they are brutalizing you with their more up tempo moments, before they slow it right down and rain boulders on your head. The guitar work, from Alex Awn and Eric Blanchard, snakes across the entire length of the album, mixing up the riffs and the lead work, all to hypnotic effect.

Then you get Jason Pearce and Brent Satterly, drums and bass respectively, who both add the real meat to the songs. Thick and heavy throughout, aided by some great production that really adds weight to some already incredibly heavy music, you find yourself listening to a real monster of an album.

What Of Terror and the Supernatural isn’t, however, is your typical death doom album; there’s a definite straightforward metal vibe in places, which adds that little something and just enhances the overall listening experience. The three songs featured on Demo MMXIII all pop up here, which is no bad thing as they were all very strong tracks, with the new music being just as strong, if not stronger.

If you want to check out some new heavy as hell music, that has a definite groove to it, you should be give this album a spin. It’s available on LP, CD, Digital and Cassette (links below) and is a mighty fine album. Oh, and that artwork kills!

Highly recommended.

8.5/10

Tracklist:

1. The Embalmer's Art

2. Savage Howl

3. Beyond the Ultimate

4. Invocation of Demise

5. To Carry this Corpse Evermore

6. Rot in Solitude

7. Exanimate Gaze

8. Bargain in Death

Of Terror and the Supernatural is available now, on 2 x LP and Cassette from Saw Her Ghost Records, CD from Without End Records and digital from the band's Bandcamp page.