TEMPLE OF DREAD

TEMPLE OF DREAD     “God of the Godless”

By Dr. Abner Mality

There is death metal and then there is DEATH metal. What I mean by that is that there are bands who are so obviously influenced by the classic sound of Chuck Schuldiner’s DEATH that it is impossible to separate them from that older band. Such an act is Germany’s TEMPLE OF DEAD. Much of “God of the Godless” is very much inspired by “Leprosy” and “Spiritual Healing”. They are right up there with GRUESOME as an all-caps DEATH metal band.

They are good enough at it that you can enjoy “God of the Godless” without feeling like a grave robber. The tunes here are punchy, energetic and well-played, with tracks like “Carnage Ritual” and “Sacrificial Dawn” bringing to mind DEATH classics like “Pull the Plug” and “Killing Spree”. “Sacrificial Dawn” even features lead vocals from Marc Grewe of MORGOTH, one of the very earliest bands to make plain their love of DEATH. He and TEMPLE OF DREAD singer Jens Finger are about the closest you can get to Chuck without using a Ouija board.

Most of the tracks are in the quick and snappy vein, but “Monstrosity Divine” has a lumbering doom-like tread that crushes skulls until a final speedy blitz. “Demise of Olympus” even features some stretches of melody and seems to edge closer to later era prog-DEATH like “Individual Thought Patterns” and such. So at least TEMPLE OF DREAD are smart enough to mix things up.

A very solid DEATH metal album, but its inspiration couldn’t be anymore obvious if Chuck’s ghost was in the band photo…

TESTIMONY RECORDS 

TEMPLE OF DREAD