This is the fifth album from German death metal band Temple of Dread.
It has been little over a year since Beyond Acheron, so I was not expecting a new Temple of Dread album again so soon at all. God of the Godless comes to us in the form of 42 minutes of new material, and it once again demonstrates why the band are so good at what they do.
Temple of Dread continue on from Beyond Acheron, showcasing their engaging sound once more. It’s old-school death metal, edged with jagged thrash riffery, but enhanced by melody and atmosphere. These latter aspects were developed well on Beyond Acheron, and the band have continued to use them on God of the Godless, albeit in a less ambitious state. As on their last record, these atmospheric components are selectively used, but they’re less overt on God of the Godless, and more embedded into the music’s brutal framework. Deployed at key moments across the album to maximise emotive impact, they make their mark felt though, allowing Temple of Dread to explore moods and feelings that most death metal bands don’t have to tools to explore.
The well-written songs provide the listener with brutal exemplars of old-school death metal. It’s a mix of Obituary and Malevolent Creation, but with the thrash metal dynamics of someone like Kreator, and the epic cinematic enrichments of someone like Nile. Of course, Temple of Dread somehow manage to have forged their own identity within this, and their own well-formed personality has increasingly emerged over the years.
God of the Godless is packed with killer death metal tunes. It’s a feast of catchy heaviness, barbed hooks, macabre atmosphere, and crushing riffs. Temple of Dread are a very enjoyable band, and although I do think Beyond Acheron is the better album, God of the Godless is still a very worthy successor for sure.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 