When it comes to extreme metal, Polish label Godz Ov War Productions has quickly become my go-to place for everything good and heavy. They’ve teamed up with Black Death Production to release the latest album from Temple Of Decay, a black/death hybrid that originated in Tomaszów Lubelski, and now resides in Dublin, Ireland. Album number two, Anti Deus, finds Temple Of Decay both honouring and breaking with the past and in doing so have released one of 2024’s best albums.
Temple Of Decay is a one-man project from the mysterious and enigmatic Mortt, and as is so often the case with solo endeavours his work is characterised by a strong focus. That becomes immediately obvious when opening track bursts from the speaker like a festering sore. It’s full of blood and pus and sprays shards of sonics in every direction; it isn’t pretty, but black metal was never meant to be aesthetically pleasing. Amidst the cries of a thousand tortured souls, ‘Strach i Sumienie (Stosy)’ sounds as if a microphone has been lowered into the depths of hell and is recording the cries therein. It seems as if Mortt has spent a great deal of effort in obtaining just the right tone; the bass operates with an earthshaking rumble, the buzzsaw guitars are razor sharp whilst the vocals are demonic and emanate from somewhere in the netherworld. When delivered as a collective whole, Temple Of Decay resonates with the listener on a primordial level in a way that’s stark and unsettling…but you kind of knew that on the way in.
It’s certainly true that you can’t judge a book by its cover (or a record by its sleeve), but that which houses Anti Deus gives a pretty good indication of what’s going on inside. It’s Satanic, blood red and warlike, and as if to emphasise this the nuclear siren that heralds the arrival of ‘Apokaliptyczna furia’ acts as a kind of warning for the curious, and when the song lands it is with the force of an irradiated warhead. Anti Deus is an angry, aggressive album that offers little in the way of redemption; it’s a musical pummelling that beats the listener into a bloody pulp, yet it never becomes staid. There’s plenty of variety on offer, not only in the varying tempos, but by weaving elements of death metal into to this album Mortt has produced a record that has real crossover appeal and will please fans of death and black equally.
Not content to stand still, Anti Deus finds Temple Of Decay breaking with convention in a quest to move forwards; from the blood red sleeve (previous releases were housed in monochrome covers) to the sound contained within, like some strange creature, there’s an organic pulse to these songs and if you need proof look no further than cataclysmic closer ‘Phallus Dei (Jdzie Wojna)’, a song that suggests there’s much more to come.
- Anti Deus is released via Godz Ov War/Black Death Production and is available now (from here).
Track List:
- Strach i Sumienie (Stosy)
- Diabolical Summoning (Sztandary Bunta)
- Apokaliptyczna furia
- Afirmacja Śmierci
- Klecha
- Phallus Dei (Jdzie Wojna)
