By Ryan Falla
Listening to Heavy Temple would lead you to believe this band was born on a planet with a biosphere made of psychedelics and doom; taking a look at their biography and realizing they hail from “Jupiter” only convinces you that Heavy Temple is from out of this world. In reality, Heavy Temple brings their psychedelic stoner doom to you out of Philadelphia, but it doesn’t matter because listening to this record will convince you how far off from this planet Heavy Temple actually is.
Active since 2012, Heavy Temple releases their EP ‘Chassit’ Janurary 27th via Tridroid Records; also available on CD via Van Records. Off the bat, Heavy Temple succeeds with the most important elements that dictate success with stoner/psych metal; and that is an extremely driving and pounding groove. Heavy Temple succeeds immensely out of the gate with the drumming magnificence by Sirens Tempestas, not only leading the charge on the grooves like an unstoppable beast but having the awareness to know when to lay it back and enhance the work done by fellow bandmates Archbishop Barghest (guitar) and High Priestess Nighthawk (bass/vocals).
Truly astounding on this EP are the supersonic vocals of High Priestess, shattering the sound barrier with her vocal ability. The band may as well be fronted by a mythological Siren with pipes made of metal; yet it isn’t just her ability to sing with impressive pitch and tone, it’s the mastery of keeping it sonically in line with the music behind her.
One of the most impressive songs on ‘Chassit’ would be the track ‘Pink Glass’, opening the song by quickly building into an intense groove; driving it into your face before slamming the breaks and handing the wheel to the bass and vocals. The skill behind the sudden transition from heavy groove to atmospheric psych highlights the special skill set this band possess, taking heavy stoned-out grooves and immediately flipping them onto the psychedelic side of the coin and vise versa. The skill doesn’t end there, because after pulling you into a psychedelic atmosphere, they drop a groove with the skull-crushing weight of an anvil dropped by Archbishop’s meaty guitar work.
I’m not sure if the track ‘In The Court of the Bastard King’ is supposed to be a light reference to King Crimson, but with the immediate progressive tones uncommon for this genre I have to believe so; and that only enhances my love for Heavy Temple.
After experiencing the EP ‘Chassit’ by Heavy Temple, I’m looking forward to what else this band has in store for us in their extremely bright future. I guarantee after listening to ‘Chassit’ you’ll find yourself in the same boat as I am.
Rating: 9/10
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Record Label: Tridroid / Van
Release Date: January 27th 2017
Track Listing:
1. Key and Bone
2. Ursa Machina
3. Pink Glass
4. In the Court of the Bastard King
Heavy Temple links: facebook | instagram | bandcamp