This is the debut album from Foghazer, a German solo blackened trip hop band.
Yes, you read that right – blackened trip hop. He Left the Temple boasts 32 minutes of the sort of music that makes scouring the depths of the extreme metal underworld worth doing. The artist behind Foghazer demonstrates an enviable ability to smash genres together in such a way that the end result actually sounds good.
Blackened trip hop is not something that you encounter every day, (or at all), so Foghazer’s debut album is an unlooked for gem. It’s an intriguing concept, with an enjoyable execution. Unexpectedly so, as strictly speaking something like this should be bound to fail. Yet, it doesn’t. Quite the opposite, in fact. Who knew such a thing was possible? As an interpretation of genre melding it counts as one of those albums that shouldn’t work, but does remarkably well.
It’s hypnotic, a trance-inducing journey into atypical sound. The two styles are merged at the cellular level, while favouring one or the other as the brief songs unfold. Trip hop is the base, with dark atmosphere built in. Around this more blackened elements are given the space to take root here and there, occasionally flowering with midnight petals and rare blooms of screaming aggression.
The songs instantly make themselves known, and are infectiously moreish in a mood-focused way. They rely on force of presence alone. They might not be lengthy, but they’re enjoyable. Deeply atmospheric, with few vocals, there are operatic components, vinyl scratching, and more, alongside the blackened trip hop core.
The music is unhurried, but urgent nonetheless. The songs mostly take their time getting to where they’re going, but do so with a slowly pulsing vitality. It doesn’t hurt that the tracks, (and the album as a whole), are so short; truncated vignettes of a world rarely glimpsed. It’s enough though, enough to make He Left The Temple worthy of your attention, and worthy of spending some time with.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 