A Fallen Temple

“A Fallen Temple” is feasibly the oddest child in the Septicflesh (or Septic Flesh, or whatever) lineage. Not musically, though, as it—or some of it, anyway—continues the multilayered gothic/doom-laden death metal approach the band had evolved into on “Ophidian Wheel.” “A Fallen Temple” is strange because it is an embodiment of Septicflesh in three forms. One part of it is an album boasting an exceptional set of new songs that continues the group’s progression from “Ophidian Wheel”; another is a rerecording of the “Temple of the Lost Race” EP; and the last piece of the pie is made up of a series of theatrical numbers featuring only vocals and orchestrations, very similar to “Tartarus” on “Ophidian Wheel,” called “Underworld,” presented in three acts. “A Fallen Temple” is Septicflesh’s mind, body, and spirit showcased in what is often styled a full-length album though it listens more like a compilation. It’s a bit of a weird one.

The first three tunes are the lone part of “A Fallen Temple” to write home about. Naturally they continue to tread upon the gothic/doom metal terrain overshadowed by the band’s death metal principles and apply familiar tropes seen on “Ophidian Wheel.” Straightforward, mid-paced riffs mixed with the band’s diversified vocal attack (though the growls sit out completely on “The Eldest Cosmonaut,” and again Natalie Rassoulis appears only sporadically) and a strong emphasis on atmosphere make up the anthems, as expected. They’re quite modern, revolving on choruses and very catchy lead guitar melodies that serve as mediators between the simple riffing and the various ebbs and currents of the songs. They’re all worthy to carry the Septicflesh banner, on the same level of quality the group had achieved with ease in its prime.

This magic, however, is missing from the four rerecorded songs from “Temple of the Lost Race.” The tracks aren’t different from the originals save for an unnecessary trimming of certain parts, making all the tunes shorter in length, and shinier production with an overall improved sound compared to the original release. The upgraded values don’t add any sense of new life to cuts that were fine on the EP; the whole idea reeks of one of those things that doesn’t enrich the overall product. A few changed synth designs here, a guitar solo with a larger role there; but nothing too drastic occurs that would merit this revitalized version of “Temple of the Lost Race” essential. There’s much more gratification in the smoggy ruins of Septicflesh’s first major release than the updates.

And then there are these “Underworld” pieces; I’m sort of torn on how to describe them. They aren’t metal songs, because there are no riffs or structured sequences that would in any way make them traditional Septicflesh anthems, but since the ‘acts’ run for thirty minutes in total, they make up a huge chunk of the record. I’m apprehensive to call them musicals, but they have that theatrical element of a play or something dramatic occurring (they’re dubbed ‘acts,’ for Christ’s sake), yet are shaded by Septicflesh’s esoteric ambience. They contain a variety of vocal styles, and there are orchestrations and other musical movements occurring underneath the declarations; they’re at the very least interesting. Are they good? Well, I’m not sure—I certainly can’t sit through all three of them in one sitting, especially after three brilliant songs and those unnecessarily redone oldies. That’s the story of “A Fallen Temple”: from excellent to excessive, debatably redundant; a bit of a weird one. Nice Paradise Lost cover, though.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com

The mid and late nineties have always been underestimated in terms of groundbreaking metal releases because the big names didn’t deliver and the scene didn’t get that much attention anymore. Younger generations were rather exposed to the grunge hype, the rise of alternative rock and crossover music and the proudly growing hip hop community while older fans turned away from their idols after several disappointing releases, unusually long waiting times between albums or fatal line-up changes. That’s why many people missed a couple of really essential releases and new sounds in the metal scene. While comparable bands like Absu, Amorphis, Moonspell, Orphaned Land, Sigh, Therion or Unexpect finally got some well deserved attention, the ambitious and unique avant-garde style of the symphonic extreme metal band Septic Flesh (or Septicflesh as they are called since their reunion in 2007) never got its breakthrough. If you like any of these bands, you simply can’t get around them though and "A Fallen Temple" would be an appropriate album to start your journey with if you have missed this band until now.

The remastered version includes some additional material for collectors but it’s nothing really essential. Paradise Lost has always been overestimated in my humble opinion and that’s why I don’t need a cover song of them. “Underworld Act 3” drags on for almost eleven minutes and simply goes nowhere as it can’t mess with the first two parts. The instrumental “Finale” offers nothing intriguing either. The single version of “The Eldest Cosmonaut” is not as effective as the regular album version. These songs should have remained collector’s items only. It’s always sad when true fans purchase rare editions of their favourite bands’ releases to get all extra tracks just to see that these tracks are later reissued and available for any occasional fan. Labels don’t seem to understand that this is rather harming the weakened music industry than helping it to arise from its ashes.

Anyway, let’s focus on the original record which is simply brilliant. Greece’s best metal band ever has moved away from its extreme metal roots for a slower gothic and symphonic sound. The combination of grounded clean male vocals, powerful and rather skilled than brutal growls, the decent use of skilled female soprano vocals that actually manage not to get on my nerves in comparison to many less extreme symphonic metal bands, a few colourful guest vocals of different styles and a solid dose of majestic choirs gives this record a dynamical, epic and positively sophisticated touch. The band has developed a great sense for atmospheric buildups, enchanting guitar and orchestral melodies and an amazing mixture of intriguing avant-garde ideas and a constantly coherent flow. This album even has a couple of truly catchy choruses that won’t get out of your mind. While many similar bands sound challenging and need multiple spins to open up, Septic Flesh convince at first try even though one can discover more and more elements with each spin. This is where the band shows an almost progressive side in its symphonies. Even though some tracks are quite elaborated and request a lot of attention, they never repeat themselves.

The whole record has a perfectly homogenous flow that distinguishes an excellent concept album from a good one. It’s hard to point out any particular song because they are all at least very good and there is no negative filler included. You really need to listen to this music in one shot but once you’ve heard the first few tracks you simply don’t want to stop anymore and should feel like listening to this record until the end. If that’s not the case, this genre simply isn’t your cup of tea. I would put this record on the same level as Moonspell’s "Irreligious", Therion’s "Theli" and Novembers Doom’s "Of Sculptured Ivy And Stone Flowers". The original album is rather hard to find and it’s great that this forgotten pearl of the nineties is back in stores now. If you care for atmospheric and innovating metal with a darker touch close to gothic and symphonic metal, this release is a definite must have.

Originally written for The Metal Observer

A Fallen Temple might not be the prize steed in the capacious stable of Septic Flesh, but it's nevertheless a fine followup to Ophidian Wheel, and maintained the band's quest for intellectual and musical refinement. Somber, eloquent eulogies clothed in the dim haze of brutality. Gothic genetics bound to a sinking hull of archaic atrocity. If there's one problem with the album, though, it's that there is a noticeable fragmentation between three substrata. Where Ophidian Wheel balanced itself between powerful, melodic death/doom pieces and a handful of eerie, operatic vignettes, A Fallen Temple furthers breaks itself into a neoclassical sequence, a handful of exhumations predating Mystic Places of Dawn, and a newer, mildly more trendy facade which runs congruent to the Gothic metal growing popular in Europe during the late 90s.

This last category is most evident through "The New Order - Brotherhood of the Fallen Knights" which is highly redolent of something Sweden's Therion would have written around the same time: catchy but simple, chugging guitar lines and overpowering, epic melodies laced with a mix of gruff and clean vocals. The strong gutturals are still present, and there's still a stark sense of 'heaviness' about it, but the male cleans are not really a strong point. "The Eldest Cosmonaut" was chosen as the lead-in single here, given its own video and EP release, and it makes a lot of sense, as the creepy, ghostlike impressions of female vocalist Natalie Rassoulis and the haunted gleam of the pianos and ascending, lilted guitar lines are quite distinct. Still, I got the feel that the male cleans were once again lackluster, not really standing out above the guitars, while Natalie seems to stand out too far, an issue I had with several of the tracks on Ophidian Wheel. Still, for these few faults, the songs are memorable enough, and joined with the similar, soaring "Marble Smiling Face" they hint at the band's plausible potential within a more mainstream market.

Then there are the "Underworld" segments, which are begun here and unfortunately finished on The Eldest Cosmonaut EP. A mistake, really, as I'd prefer to have them all gathered in the same place, even if that would have stretched the total album to about 70 minutes (it's about 55). "Act I" is a jarring, schizoid sequence that feels like what might occur if Diamanda Galas were to track a Castlevania sequel...and the madhouse male vocals and female screaming build towards an appreciable asylum with a reek of primeval theater about its gates. "End of the Circle - Act II" is more potent and swelling musically, with its rousing and hammering orchestration that reminds me of Les Miserables, ambitious to say the least from Christos Antoniou and his gangly band of ghouls. Both of these acts are entertaining in their own right, but extensive enough a deviation that they feel rather 'outside' the rest of A Fallen Temple. Basically, this was the birth of their side project Chaostar, which strove strictly in these idiosyncratic channels. The "Underworld" sequence (both here and on the EP) were even strung together as a sort of demo.

Then we arrive at that last remainder of the album, the re-recordings of classic Septic Flesh material from the wonderful Temple of the Lost Race EP (1991). They don't sound a hell of a lot different, nor are they far better produced, but the band have shifted about a few of the synth tones, made the leads more bluesy ("Setting of the Two Suns"), and frankly I like these versions just about as much as the originals. All four of those tracks are present here, with one of them being renamed from "Another Reality" to "The Crypt", tuned differently and in my opinion more ominous and memorable than its original incarnation. It's sad to think that this is actually the best segment of A Fallen Temple, and you've guessed by now that the title is in tribute to that formative work, but the value is naturally diminished if you've somehow already got the EP. At least the re-recordings are somewhat better 'fleshed out'.

Lastly, the Greeks have provided a more clashing version of "The Eldest Cosmonaut" closing out the album, a "Dark Version", with the female vocals abrasive to the point of being ungodly annoying, but that really doesn't deserve mention here as it is the one entirely unnecessary and shitty misstep of note. The vocal mix throughout the sum of the album is far from praiseworthy, but here it escalated into a crass annulment of my attention span. Otherwise, the Flesh have once more brought the goods, with a number of their signature melodies and fathomless dark poems that belong on a highlight reel with the tastier bits of Esoptron and Ophidian Wheel. One does get the impression that the Greeks were searching for some new investment of their time, which would in fact manifest in TWO investments (Chaostar and the far more trendy melodic death inherent in Revolution DNA), but there's enough of that rich, pungent death/doom soil here to live up to the titular imagery.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This record is not to be considered a full-length album. It features 5 new songs ("The New order" plus "End of the Circle") and re-recordings from early demos ("The Testimony"), plus a bonus version of "The Eldest Cosmonaut".

The new songs are excellent, mixing influences from previous Flesh material and indicating the new way the band was to take on the following album. The first part also features Natalie Rassoulis on vocals, which can't be bad. Natalie demonstrates once again her vocal skills, which are put to an even better use than on "Ophidian Wheel". Natalie literally transcends songs like "The Eldest Cosmonaut". On the other hand, Spiros tends to shy away from the vocals on this part, singing only on "Brotherhood of the Fallen Knights" (a more classical piece) and "Marble Smiling Face" (a great song, indicative of the future of the band).

The new songs include "Underworld", a two-act piece written by Chris. Those two songs really point out to the direction Chris was to take with his solo project, "Chaostar", featuring only keyboards and Natalie (accompanied on some parts by a male singer). These are clearly not metal, but unlike the two instrumental numbers by Chris on "Ophidian Wheel", they stand out less and are actually quite enjoyable (if you're into that sort of music, of course).

The second part of the record is, as I said, re-recordings of previous demos. While an enjoyable bonus for the fans, these songs are (with the noted exception of "Setting of the Two Suns"), straightforward death metal, and are nothing to write home about. Here, Spiros assumes all the vocal duties, with Natalie being totally absent. My main problem with this is that you really think you have two bands performing on the record. Still, I won't bitch too much since it's a bonus, and it allows me to have a good version of "Setting...".

The record ends on "The Eldest Cosmonaut (Dark Version)", which sees Spiros singing the parts of Sotiris, thus giving it a darker feel.

All in all, a good album for the fans, but people wishing to discover Septic Flesh should rather turn to "Ophidian Wheel" or "Esoptron".