It’s a strange wonder when a band gets darker, uglier, and more sinister right before our eyes and ears. A lot of time, the years and experience take off the edge because things get easier and the band members grow and mature, removing some of the fire from their bellies. It’s an altogether different thing when the opposite happens, and the passage of time acts as a spiritual rot in order for the soul to warp.
Saturnalia Temple have been plying their dark arts for nearly two decades now and four albums, the latest being “Paradigm Call,” which marks another sonic shift for this Swedish trio. They’ve been moving in this direction for some time now, and we see the fiery madness come into better focus on these eight tracks that feel like they’re here to batter you into calculated submission. The band—vocalist/guitarist Tommie Eriksson, bassist Gottfrid Åhman, drummer Pelle Åhman (the latter two formerly played with In Solitude)—pulls you into the shadows, showing a more threatening attitude you can’t hope to shake any time soon.
“Drakon” is a morbid, doom-infested instrumental opener, a dark and numbing piece that sets the stage for what’s to come, most directly “Revel in Dissidence.” A pall hangs over as Eriksson’s gravelly howl pierces the flesh, the playing slowly battering as it enters a murk. The pace trudges as the leads envelope, beastly howls rattle cages, and the tempo changes suddenly before the guitars smoke heavily and disappear into psychedelic heat. The title track starts mashing, howls lurching, the playing bruising bones. The riffs continually repeat as the vocals creak, echoes washing down, the guitars glimmering through a smokescreen. A long instrumental section takes the song home, choking with fog and burying in oblivion. “Among the Ruins” enters in a gnarly stomp, the vocals pouring acid, the punishing pace putting you to the test. Psyche-washed guitars fill your head with madness before the pace batters all over again, snaking as the vocals choke you into blackness, the playing slowly fading behind you.
“Black Smoke” has muscular bass lines pushing, the muck puts your muscles to the test, and the growls snarl, gurgling and jolting your skeletal structure. The guitars erupt as the intensity builds, Eriksson howling, “Everything is burning!” over the smothering chorus, static spitting and buzzing on its way down. “Ascending the Pale” is burly and smeary, the growls snarling as the mud continues to accumulate. The guitars lather as the leads beam, ugly mauling pulverizing bones, the howls stretching as tar bubbles, the pressure mounting before fading. “Empty Chalice” instantly throws punches, vile howls sickening as the doom might thickens. The playing is a meaty stomp as the assault keeps up its momentum, bashing away before fading into the distance. Instrumental closer “Kaivalya” buzzes in your brain before it begins to do bodily harm, the psychedelic storm swelling. The leads heat up as hypnotic fuzz mars your brain, sparking a fiery assault before fading into a molten fury.
“Paradigm Call” is a record that might take a few visits to truly set in, but Saturnalia Temple’s fiery, hypnotic approach to their music makes that effort something worth doing. These songs are drubbing and at times ugly, pushing your psychedelic boundaries and testing your mettle for what your brain can handle. If it doesn’t stick at first, keep trying; this is a different Saturnalia Temple with a renewed fire, and it won’t take long for you to burn deeply alongside them.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/saturnaliatemple
To buy the album, go here: https://shop-listenable.net/en/149_saturnalia-temple
For more on the label, go here: https://www.listenable.eu/
Meat Mead Metal 