Lightslaying Rituals

A few times during your mortal journey on this Earth, life confronts you with quintessential, fundamental questions regarding the important things in life. Like for example: What is the meaning of life? Is there a God? Did Jesus shave his pubes and flash his genitals to get the attention of his manslav-…I mean apostles? Once in a while, you need to start thinking and re-evaluating the decisions you’ve made in your life, your philosophical principles – in short, how you think and live. Well, the time has come to set another of these paramount issues straight – is Temple of Baal black or death metal? No need to groan, Mr. Cynical-penis – it’s not as easy as you might think it is!

First of all, TOB hail from France. How many great death metal bands do you know from France? That’s right. Now how many great black metal bands hail from the country of champagne and cheese? That’s right. Two. Um…yeah. Now, what does this have to do with TOB’s genre? Err…well…you know, it’s ehh…er… OK, now that that’s settled, let’s move onwards!

If I was to describe “Lightslaying Rituals” with one word, it would be merciless. There’s no pity left for the weak or stupid here, only skull crushing blows to the head, leaving nothing but a steaming pile of bone rubble behind. Devastating riffs somewhere between Morbid Angel, Vomitory and Marduk accompanied by many a blast beat and even at other times, furious drumming is what this black//death (haven’t decided yet) smorgasbord is filled to the brim with. There are some fine moments with guitar leads and somber melodies strewn a little here and there across the record, and they bring much-needed depth to the texture. Without these extra spices, the main course would taste like wood (of the tree kind) after a while, and that’s not something to strive for. The tree kind, that is.

The vocalist has a mid-to-high pitched growl that sounds ace, very raw yet still powerful and articulate. I haven't read the lyrics, but the album and song titles (as well as the music, of course) invoke an aura of hate, blackness and death. Maybe this is hate metal? No, that sounds like something Hatebreed does, fuck no! Maybe this is what the genre categorizers deluxe call “blackened death metal”, or ”deathened black metal”? No, that sounds really, really, really, really bad. I’ll return to this. Stop groaning.

The production is quite massive, all of the instruments sound raw, authoritative and beefy. The overall sound is a little disorderly, but the chaotic feel only heightens the music’s character, so nothing to complain about there. The songwriting is maybe not the most unique I’ve ever heard, but it’s damn competent. All songs on “Lightslaying Rituals” are good, and it’s not easy to clear the bar you’ve set every time. I’ll be coming back to this hard and relentless slab of thick and hateful destruction many times in the future!

Oh, right, the genre. Is this death metal, or is this black metal? You know what? Nobody fucking cares what the fucking genre is as categorizing is an absolute fucking waste of time, for the most part. Listen to Temple of Baal’s music instead and judge for yourself – after all, we’re listening to bands, not genres, right?

One often associates French black metal with its more bizarre artists like Peste Noire or Deathspell Omega, but there are a number of notable bands who deliver a more 'traditional' experience within the confines of the genre. I wouldn't call Temple of Baal a strictly traditional black band, as they employ some death metal influence, but their delivery is hostile, blasted black metal with a dark, throbbing low end courtesy of the cranked bass guitars. Lightslaying Rituals is their third full-length album, and successful as far as it provides 40 minutes of brutal entertainment for diehards of oppressive black metal that doesn't sound like it was recorded in an outhouse.

I might compare this most to a band like earlier Marduk, though not as ceaselessly rapidfire. Lightslaying Rituals has its share of grinding, blasting tracks like "Piercing the Veils of Slumber", "Triumph of Heretic Fire", "Angstgeist" or "Vectors to the Void", but it also paces itself with a sense for slower, dense thrashing like great "Poisoned Words" or the breakdown in the excellent final track, "Blessed in Blackfire". Throughout the entire album is this turbulent, violent atmosphere created through the brazen production values. This is the type of black metal band that could perform well alongside death metal or -core bands; they stick to the image and lyrical aesthetic of the former, but have throwdown riffs that could get a pit going easily, without coming off cheesy. Temple of Baal is aggressive, and they sound good. They don't write the most memorable riffs and they're not huge fans of melody, but their punishing sound will beat the pulp out of you.

Highlights: Triumph of Heretic Fire, Poisoned Words, Blessed in Blackfire

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com