Lupi Amoris - Tracklisting:
1. A Desert Through The Trees
2. The Wolf
3. The Maiden
4. Isabella (With Unrelenting Fangs)
5. Howling Of A Prothalamion
Band Members:
High Priestess Nighthawk - vocals. bass guitar
Lord Paisley - guitar
Baron Lycan - drums
Philadelphia, PA, is home to the brilliant trio Heavy Temple whom, after some EPs, singles and a split, finally unleash their debut full-length, 'Lupi Amoris'. And what can I say? Based on the band's previous output this is the logical and excellent conclusion, there's no other way about it. Having guided Heavy Temple from its inception in 2012, High Priestess Nighthawk, who’s amazing voice, songwriting and eloquent bass playing is a big part of the band’s identity, has an extremely powerful trio at hand with Lord Paisley on guitar and Baron Lycan on drums. The breath-taking blend of psychedelic doom, blues, heaviness and esoteric lyrical vantage point they unleash ‘Lupi Amoris’ is absolutely stunning, crushingly stunning in fact.
I might give it all away from the start but Heavy Temple’s first full-length is simply fantastic, don’t know if I can find any better adjectives than that, but that’s how it is, folks! This band gives me the good vibes from the get-go and as unrestrained and free-flowing as this band is, there are no boundaries to what they do. Hence, I get completely lost in the music as soon as it starts and, when everything is over the feeling of contentment and being re-charged is so abundant.
Based on the story of the Red Riding Hood from a female point of view ‘Lupi Amoris’ starts off with ‘A Desert Through The Trees’. It’s full of riffs, it’s bluesy and esoteric in nature. Loud and powerful, this song is a brute force yet beautiful and vivid and finishes off crushingly heavy. ‘The Wolf’ picks it up and becomes spaced-out and trippy after about two minutes. Not particularly fast it is still bone-crushingly heavy as Heavy Temple unleash a wonderful take on modern-day blues. It leads straight into ‘The Maiden’ which gradually builds up to fever-pitch and then some. Drops a little in the latter half during the fuzzed-out trippy solo only to explode in the end. Brilliant solo, by the way. Isabella (With Unrelenting Fangs) starts off with a wonderfully slow thick and heavy bassline akin to Jethro Tull’s ‘Broadsword And The Beast’. The band keeps it slow, lurking and kind of sinister with a sense of foreboding gloom. This excellent album ends with the only instrumental piece, ‘Howling Of A Prothalamion’ and what a way to close everything out. While Nighthawk and Lycan are pounding the listener to dust, Paisley throws off the shackles and shreds his guitar to a bloody pulp…all while the band collectively emits a state of transcendence, euphoria and catharsis. Absolutely wonderful!
In conclusion, whatever music your band plays, approach it like Heavy Temple. Because their music, is honest; it’s healing and rejuvenating and it’s bloody fantastic. Don’t miss out on ‘Lupi Amoris’ you hear!
Words by Håkan Nyman
Thanks to Magnetic Eye Records for the promo.
You can buy Lupi Amoris now on CD/DD/Vinyl from Magnetic Eye Records
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