TEMPLE OF VOID

There are many bigger names in underground metal, but TEMPLE OF VOID have one of the biggest sounds around. Steeped in horror and old-school heaviness, the Detroit quintet have been incredibly consistent during their 13-year existence. From an acclaimed debut album, 2014's "Of Terror and the Supernatural", through to the higher profile hideousness of 2022's "Summoning the Slayer", the band's colorful and maximalist death/doom has long been a standard setter in extreme metal circles. Four years on from their last record, "The Crawl" seeks to establish TEMPLE OF VOID as today's foremost, sinister skull-crushers. Their second album for Relapse Records, this arrives under the great weight of expectation and does an excellent job of making their distinctive sonic world even more immersive and irresistible.

As formulas go, TEMPLE OF VOID's approach to death metal is unusually measured and deep. Opening track "Poison Icon" confirms that nothing much has changed since "Summoning the Slayer", but a noticeably sharper and more powerful production has blessed the band with even more character. Hewn from bulbous shards of mid-paced muscle and caustic, cartoon darkness, this is agile and diverse extremity, but with such a strong personality that resistance is useless. A song like "Godless Cynic" would hit the target regardless, but TEMPLE OF VOID have become increasingly adept at emphasizing fine details while basking in cinematic splendor. As syrupy riffs grind merrily away, the monster movie spirit is palpable, and every hook is delivered with a ferocity that belies the band's glacial, atmospheric approach. "The Crawl" is a mesmerizing voyage through eerie shadows, with ghostly keyboard motifs festering in the background, and multiple moments of downbeat drama that erupt from every sonic corner. Frontman Mike Erdody's growls are magnificently blank-eyed and inhuman but underpinned by music that oozes melodrama and malice. TEMPLE OF VOID have constructed their own musical world, and they are hell-bent on luring us all in. From the epic clatter of "A Dead Issue", to the expansive, slithering doom monolith of "The Twin Stranger", this is pitch-perfect horror metal that draws from many sources, both musical and visual, while staying true to the fundamental nastiness and anti-commercial thrust of the brutal underground. Much like self-evident peers HOODED MENACE, these are musicians with the history of heavy metal etched into their souls, and the inspirational way that they combine death metal's destructiveness with the melodic finesse of the old school is admirable. By a measurable distance, "Soulburn", the strongest song here, is a particularly satisfying master class in cross-pollinated punishment. Gruesome but melodic riffs collide with psychedelic synths, evoking the greatest and best in heavy metal history, while also retaining the individual quirks and all-encompassing verve that have been TEMPLE OF VOID's defining traits.

Put more simply, this is another near-flawless adventure in deathly, doomed-out dynamism, and from its superb Travis Smith artwork, to its pristine, multi-dimensional sound, everything about "The Crawl" screams superiority. Frightening, but in a good way.