Release
date: 30th September 2016. Label: RidingEasy Records . Format:
CD/DD/Vinyl
Temples
– Tracklisting
1.Purification
By Fire
2.Bury
Me Standing
3.Toward
The Sands
4.The
Black Stone
5.Sativan
Harvest
Band
Members:
Scott
Penberthy - Guitar/Vocals
Nick
Donoughue - Guitar
Dave
Bartlett - Bass
Lance
Leembrugen - Drums
Review:
Here
we go, with another fabulous review! Let me open with the same words
I used after the first seconds of listening. Holy shit! Holy Serpent!
Holy Serpent’s latest album is something absolutely amazing and
insane. In this latest release, Temples (RidingEasy Records), the
Melbourne based quartet completely expand their sonic journey through
a much more heavier and massive sound compared with their self-titled
debut album (Holy Serpent).
Here,
the tunes are atmospheric and heavy, and the slow grooving passages
perfectly mix with the vocals of Scott Penberthy that, in some
passages closely remind one of the finest voices of the grunge scene
of the 90's, Layne Staley. What I found really interesting in this
album, is the perfectly mix of doom, stoner and grunge, where
(slowed) Black Sabbath fuses with Alice in Chains, Fu Manchu and Acid
King. All without disdaining more psychedelic passages, as in the
best tradition of the 60/70’s.
The
album opens with Purification By Fire, where slow-burn riffs,
rhythmic and massive patterns of bass and drum slowly accompany the
listener into dark and heavy atmosphere, where the vocals really
remind to the best Layne Staley. This long opener ends with a riffage
close to Acid King. One of my favourite tracks. It follows Bury Me
Standing, a song which starts with a powerful wha-guitar-solo and
then suddenly change tempo, perfectly declining the doom concept of
Saint Vitus around the howls of Penberthy.
In
Toward the Sands, Holy Serpent expand their sonic experimentation, as
the song constantly turns on a dime from fast rager to doom, and
where we can hear in some passages the echo of Monolord’s Cursing
The One (from their amazing album Vaenir, RidingEasy Record). The
same groove can be found in the next The Black Stone, possibly the
song with one of the heaviest, slow and obsessive rhythmic of the
whole album. And, mind you, is not a note of disappointment, indeed.
Simply amazing.
Temples
closes with a 12 minutes long journey through Holy Serpent, Sativan
Harvest, a three-pieces song which is built around an epic
stoner/doom riffage that drifts into haze of droning guitars. Here
the tunes are, if possible, even more fat, slow and dark. Around the
sixth minute, the psychedelic change in pure Pink Floyd style gently
introduce a massive dose of heavy and elephantine riffs, where the
vocals become, if possible, even more intensive and profound. The
third part of Sativan Harvest accompanies the listener towards the
end of Temples, where guitars, bass and drum give way to synths,
strings and cellos, in an ending that leaves you speechless, where
the dark atmospheres of the whole album are replaced by a deep sense
of calm, where doom meets Björk. The perfect ending to a great
album.
What
else can I say...Holy Shit! Holy Serpent!
Words
by Bruno Bellisario
Thanks
to Dave at US/THEM Group for the promo. Temples will be available
to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via RidingEasy Records from September 30th
2016.
Links: