One of the bands that took me by storm in 2015 has certainly been France’s TEMPLE OF BAAL. Though I had heard some of their stuff here and there before, I didn’t really have them on the map before they fucking blew me away at the Kings Of Black Metal Festival in April. October 2015 finally saw the release of „Mysterium“ and damn, this album surpassed my expectations by far. The epic opener „Lord of knowledge and death“ sets the tone for 55 minutes of supreme, devoted Black/Death Metal art. TEMPLE OF BAAL describe „Mysterium“ as religious work and listening to these eight hymns, it is hard not to notice the sacral, almost liturgic spirit vibrating through every note of aptly titled invocations such as „Hosanna“ and „Magna gloria tua“, perfectly reflected by the noble black-and-gold artwork. There’s an underlying sense of purpose in these songs which makes all the relentless blasting, anthemic choruses and commanding vocals fall in place and contribute to a greater evil. TEMPLE OF BAAL achieve all this without losing track of stringent songwriting while on the other hand offering more density and love of detail than most bands. „Mysterium“ will stay with me for quite a while for sure.

OO Void