Label: Theogonia Records
Date: July 19th, 2023
Greece is a land which invented katharsis. We all have it within ourselves, but they gave a definition that many universities and sciences that explore human souls are trying to explain better than ancient Greeks. They are certainly a nation which feels art in deepest parts of the soul. From rich mythology, through Greek tragedy, instruments and science, Greeks have in their veins the receptors for pretty, for art and to make you feel katharsis. Even when it comes to metal, Greece doesn’t have a very big scene, but perfectly enough to say it’s rich. Rotting Christ, Villagers Of Ioannina City, Mind Erasure, Naxatras… Names that provided Greece a place among important metal countries. Temple Of Katharsis is a black metal band which plays in Scandinavian school of black metal. “Macabre Ritual” is their first album in fourteen years of existence. Unfortunately, the same story for many good bands.
Anyway, why I picked them for reviewing is a long story. First, I like to see that band is from Europe but also from some underrated countries for metal, like Greece, Bosnia, Lithuania etc. It’s necessary to hear musicians from every corner of the world and spread this way of expressing. The second reason is that their black metal is something unique. Sound with classical black metal drum blast, shredding guitar solos and riffs are standard, but there is something more, beyond those standard riffs. Dark and mysterious atmosphere which smells of wet walls of a dungeon is something that keeps the attention here in this album. The accent is not on music but lyrics and mystery they are trying to present us.
Music mostly reminds me of Norwegian black metal bands of 2000’s, but with good production and much more creativity. Raw vocals of mister Hellmaster666 literally wakes fear inside of guts. It even isn’t a classical growling. It sounds like storytelling. Especially in songs like “The Archpriest of the Wolves”. This song is written in Greek and it definitely gives an interesting effect. Someone is casting a spell on the microphone, but we just don’t understand that.
All the others songs are in English, but nothing less good or less evil. “The Kingdom of Hades”, a story of antic hell ruled by God of underworld fits into the black metal folklore. Demonically fast and evil.
Temple of Katharsis plays that dungeon metal, I like to call it, and describes one special world full of darkness, unpredictable situations, nights full of terror and fear. It’s a world that resembles the Middle Ages, but every prison is a dark, miserable place. And exactly that misery is felt in their music.
Next to this black metal aggression, something sad like a ghost is present here. Also, my main reason why I actually wanted to write about these amazing gentlemen. Like a cherry on the top, cover of the album is beyond darkness. Beautiful on one side, but full of some horrific evil. Temple Of Katharsis definitely fulfilled the purpose of their name.
Katharsis is an individual feeling, so everyone has its own story about it. These gentlemen, with this album, entered into an evil world of black metal but also provided themselves a better path to the throne of European black metal.
