Temple of Baal | ‘Lightslaying Rituals’

Île-de-France blasphemers Temple of Baal have been on the warpath for a hefty chunk of time at this stage, with over a decade of releases behind them.

That being said, this is one group that remains best known for including members of more recognized French Black Metal groups like Antaeus and Glorior Belli in their ranks.

Those are bands that represent some of the best of what France’s excellent BM scene is capable of, yet Temple of Baal have never truly caught attention in the same way, their own particular Black Metal genesis seeming to fall away from the hissing BM underground, but not exactly in the Death Metal spawning grounds either.

Going by the opener to ‘Lightslaying Rituals’ though, it’s clear that the group aren’t afraid to show their brawn on this release. The treacle-thick crawl of ‘Piercing the Veils of Slumber’ storms out of the speakers with a serious display of strength and not a spindly guitar riff in sight.

A killer little rhythm is quickly dished out and bang, we’re right in the thick of it, with blastbeats rolling and a healthy guitar tone grinding away. Indeed as the album progresses, the pace and weight of the tone shows exactly how much the group have swung towards the Death Metal side of things. The harsh and dry growling throughout from vocalist Amduscias seals the deal as this being a reasonably militaristic affair.

The group have certainly succeeded in incorporating a decent range of dynamics into their sound. Things rattle along nicely for the first couple of songs, but the frenzied edge of ‘Angstgeist’ stands favourably apart from the pack with the inclusion of an almost Immortal-esque riff playing out the latter half of the song.

They immediately back this up with the drum heavy workout of ‘Dead Cult’, which trundles away with a midsection that’s about as Swedish as they come. Never do they succumb to the temptations of the blast fest, but real breaks in pace are pretty seldom too. It’s a steady listen.

Throughout, it’s hard to break the feeling that the group are still operating in a limbo of types. Not willing to go for broke and kick into the really frantic, vicious territory that make great Death Metal so good, they often veer into standoff-ish sections of the same guitar patterns played over and over again while the decent, but not really compelling vocals intone away.

Done really well, this approach can have a great atmospheric effect, but the quality of the instrumentation on offer isn’t of a high enough level to really retain attention. Sometimes it comes down to such simple elements, and this is one of the weaknesses of the record – lack of killer riffs.

By no means a damp squib, this is one that may well find a place in the heart of your odd underground aficionado, but certainly not one that’ll be setting forums hopping with excitement any time soon. On the strength of it, the group can view themselves as capable and worthwhile players in their own particular backyard, but it’ll take more than this to really muscle in on the headphone-time of the great mass beyond.

2.7 / 5 - Lorcan Archer ::: 23/01/2010