Temple of Dread announces its fourth album.
Since 2017 in Germany, the band led by Markus Bünnemeyer (guitar/bass, Thrashhammer), Jörg Uken (drums, Adversvm, ex-Nightfall…) and Jens Finger (vocals, Slaughterday, ex-Obscenity) has never slowed down. Beyond Acheron is scheduled for release on Testimony Records in 2023.
The album begins in darkness with Charon’s Call, an ominous introduction slowly leading us into the vivid devastating Beyond Acheron, the eponymous composition, where scathing melodies meet an effective, catchy rhythm. The unleashed lead parts perfectly fit the Old School approach and its energetic riffs sometimes overlaid by ferocious vocal parts, just as on World Below, where the band offers heady tones skilfully managed between bursts of rage. There’s even a majestic break where a keyboard joins the other instruments, then the long Damnation pours its impressive sonorities out on a relatively slow basis, letting the warlike march guide us through the livelier passages, sometimes borrowing from solid Heavy influences. The melodic approach remains as effective as ever, including at the end of the track, which leads us into Dance of Decay and its more aggressive patterns that join the heavy, unhealthy sounds that punctuate the song. The band stays on the cutting edge with All-Consuming Fire and its Thrash roots, making the sound even more bloody and vivid, especially during the sudden accelerations contrasting with the more haunting passages where the atmosphere darkens once again, while The Plague returns to thick jerky riffs, and raw vocal parts strengthen the wild side. The musicians also go on the rampage on Carnality Device, which features solid blasts, frantic riffs and powerful screams between two slower, more ethereal parts, then the short Asebeia takes the most devastating elements and turns them into a Grind-influenced compendium of violence. The album ends with Hades, which combines slow tones and dark leads for an oppressive but imposing final instrumental track.
With a string of quality releases in just six years, Temple of Dread are slowly making their way to the top of the Old School Death Metal league. Beyond Acheron is a solid aggressive album that exactly knows where it’s going, even daring to include some much softer melodies.
90/100