Temple of the Beast - Geminian Arcana

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Death

Texas-based solo-project Temple of the Beast is a young entity created only two years ago by the quite active musician Alexander Macias, known as Blackthorn in this current project. All his projects have been closely related to the extreme metal scene, and Temple of the Beast is not an exception. It is quite remarkable that with only a demo and a single the project has captured the attention of a well-known label as Iron Bonehead Productions, which for sure made me feel curious about how good its music could be.

 

'Geminian Arcana' is the first effort by Temple of the Beast, which is an EP consisting of five songs. The style is unmistakably a combination of death and black elements, with a quite sinister sound. The production has a clear old-school touch, with a murky sound, particularly in the guitars. In any case, all the instruments are audible, which is always a good point. The vocals undoubtedly follow the classical patterns of the death metal genre. The sound is, truly cavernous and furious, which fits perfectly with the overall sound of this EP. Regarding the production, the compositions have a clear old school feeling, and they go quite straight to the bone. You won’t find here pompous structures or excessive technical stuff, but pure and uncompromised fury. The first track, "Temple I: Through the Trees", opens the EP with a sinister intro followed by the aforementioned combination of death/black metal. The pace is changing, with fast and relentless sections adequately combined with mid-tempo ones, where the riffing is particularly enjoying. The balance in the ups and downs shifts progressive towards an increasing speed until the fourth track, entitled "Temple IV: The Key & The Gate (Sitra Achra)", where speedy sections reign with almost no opposition. As a welcome contrast comes the closer track, where Temple of the Beast shows its calmer yet truly dark face. This is by far the slowest composition which ends in the same way as the EP begins, which an eerie ambience section.

 

'Geminian Arcana' is a solid beginning for Temple of the Beast. The compositions are well-accomplished and have an always enjoyable old-school touch. Apart from that, the project doesn’t offer anything particularly outstanding, and for this reason, I consider that Blackthorn should push a bit further the current boundaries of the project, if he wants to offer a truly worthy full-length debut. (Alain González Artola)

 

(Iron Bonehead Productions - 2025)

Score: 70

 

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/temple-of-the-beast-geminian-arcana

Fellwarden - Legend: Forged in Defiance

#FOR FANS OF: Atmospheric Black Metal

Fellwarden is a fascinating project born from the mind of the always creative musician, The Watcher, who is involved in several projects. Fen is, for sure, the most well-known of them and one of my favorite projects out there. While Fen successfully combines atmospheric black metal with some post metal/rock influences, Fellwarden was born with stronger ties to the first subgenre. The project was created back in 2014, and it has released two excellent albums, which are an honest musical proof of The Watcher’s immense talent and passion for this style.

As this year marks the tenth anniversary of Fellwarden, the English solo-project is back with its third installment, which is usually a crucial one because it usually shows if a project is capable of reaching a new point of evolution in its sound. The name of the new opus is 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' and the title itself shows a certain idea of how the album can sound. This is an effort that does not differ dramatically from its predecessors, but it surely has a stronger epic tone in their compositions. A preconceived feeling that is reinforced if you take a look at the majestic artwork, courtesy of the legendary Belgian artist Kris Verwimp. 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' contains six songs (seven if you have the limited edition), in which The Watcher unleashes his creativity with long and rich compositions, where all the traditional elements of this project can abundantly be found. The album opener "Exultance" is for sure a great choice to start listening the album. Ten minutes of pure atmospheric black metal with a majestic tone thanks to the addition of some clean vocals and an excellent powerful riffing. The classic raspy vocals are also there as a great contrast and have a great presence as you could expect. The ups and downs in the pace are excellently placed and make the song flow adequately, never letting it to sound predictable or flat. The combination of fast and slower sections varies in its distribution depending on the composition. In any case, mid-tempo sections, and even slow ones, are more prominent, like you can listen to in compositions like "Despair", which is clearly slower than the album opener. The subsequent track, "Renewed Hope", has a great contrast between the different sections of the composition.

"Desperation" is another excellent song, where the introduction of acoustic guitars, along with some touching clean vocals, creates an undoubtedly solemn and emotional atmosphere, excellently contrasted by the always necessary ferocious moments. The last part of the album follows very similar patterns, although the general pace is here predominantly slow, which is not actually an enormous issue. Nevertheless, at least for me, it leaves me with the feeling that the second half of the album lacks a bit of energy that some faster and heavier parts would give. From my point of view, this contrast between the solemn mid-tempo/slow parts and speedy sections would be beneficial for the album as whole.

All in all, 'Legend: Forged in Defiance' by Fellwarden is an excellent album. The tasteful and enriching compositions, the epic general tone and the great performance by all instruments and vocals, weights more than the occasional feeling in the final part of the album, that this effort lacks some ferocity. (Alain González Artola)

(Eisenwald - 2024)
Score: 82

https://fellwarden.bandcamp.com/album/legend-forged-in-defiance

Cantique Lépreux - Le Bannissement

#FOR FANS OF: Black Metal

The always prolific scene from Québec brings us again some quality stuff, and as usual, it is something strongly connected to its superb black metal scene. This time it is the turn of Cantique Lépreux, a band formed ten years ago in Quebec City. Its four current members are also quite active in the scene, particularly the three founders, who are involved in several projects. This makes clear the close relationship between the different projects and how involved the musicians are. Although the band’s first years were quite active with the release of two very solid albums, it has taken much more time for the new opus to see the light of the day. The result initially seems to be quite good, the reason why the well-established label Eisenwald has decided to release it.

 

'Le Bannissemnt' is the name of the new beast, and it has most of the characteristics of this local scene. To be fair, the projects that I have listened to have their own distinctive point, but in general you can feel that the full scene shares some aspects that make it easy to identify a band from Quebec. Cantique Lépreux is not an exception, as its black metal has a distinguishable aspect that makes you know immediately its origin. Tremolo picking guitars reign here with an excellent work, accompanied by the characteristic agonic shrieks and a mainly quite fast pace through the whole album. Remarkably powerful tracks like the album opener "Le Revissement" and last track "Consécration" are the perfect examples. They go straight to the bone, with ferocious and fast-paced drums and some intimidating powerful screams. The tremolo riffing, so characteristic of the genre, is totally dominating here with an impeccable performance, full of excellent riffs. These are the type of tracks that must make the audience go mad on the stage, for sure. A longer track like "Riviéres Rompues" also shows that the guitar players can add more variation to the riffs. The addition of some nice solos, which are perfectly well performed, is also enriching. There are not a lot of calm moments on this album, and honestly, one of the fewest that the listener will encounter are found in "Le Rêve Primordial". This composition contains some mid-tempo and even slower sections, which mark a good contrast to the domination fast ones. Some acoustic guitars are also included, a fact that, coupled with the more diverse pace, makes this song the most varied one of this album.

In conclusion, 'Le Bannissement' is a quite good album from Cantique Lépreux. It doesn’t revolutionize the local scene, but it offers exactly what the listener wants. Its seven very solid compositions, with an excellent guitar work and an undoubtedly energetic pace all along it, will surely satisfy you. (Alain González Artola)

(Eisenwald - 2024)

Score: 75

https://cantiquelepreux.bandcamp.com/album/le-bannissement