Coincidence is just one thing that it’s not part of my beliefs because I think all things are somewhat connected. So, the it’s much probable that the album that one chooses to review fits perfectly the dark your soul is feeling. Dark not in the sense of embracing the shadows, but of the feeling status of one’s soul. Metal music is known for opening the floodgates of all feelings humankind is capable of having from the lighter to the darker and that’s just okay. It’s about feelings. The real human feelings. Just that.
It’s no overreaction to say “Of Solitude Triumphant” is a liturgical album not only for its many chanting parts but also for its mood in each track. It’s not about sadness. It’s something deeper and more complex. It’s about feelings. It’s about emotion. It’s about sorrow. The album goes in a direction that shows that The Temple is the right name for the band. When I say liturgical it’s because from opener track “Me To Lichno Tou Astrou” to grand finale “The Lord of Light” the album is built to pass the fan a deeper feeling. Anyone a little bit more sensitive will feel something different while listening to tracks as “Profound Loss” where the complex and fine vocal textures address to Gregorian chants. All the album was vocally built to fit these high standards. In a few words, The Temple put into Metal music all the feeling and the technique of Gregorian chants. It’s like they got some pieces and made them Metal with the melodic guitars and the slow , but pounding drumming. Pay close attention to the intro of “A White Flame for the Fear of Death” and tell if it’s not what I’m telling you.
“Of Solitude Triumphant” is one of a kind of some albums that have this special way of translating into music their tittles. It’s impossible not to feel it. A rare occasion where the guitars translate into music the vocals and the lyrical content. Truth is that “Of Solitude Triumphant” isn’t for any metaller. It’s for the metaller that has a profound desire to understand this sad and lonely and pathetic little by the means of Metal music. The slow tempo of the guitar phrasings give the chanting a very special meaning. It’s not about the technique here, but everything about the feeling. And not any subtle or vane feeling. Complex and meaning feelings here as if this world had a meaning. Or meanings. As if we could understand it. The Temple showed their version. Go for it.
The Temple “Of Solitude Triumphant” will be released on December 09th via I Hate Records.
Track Listing:
- Me To Lichno Tou Astrou
- The Foundations
- Reborn in Virtue
- Profound Loss
- A White Flame for the Fear of Death
- Premonitions of the Final Hour
- The Lord of Light
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!