ALBUM REVIEW: Seven! Sirens! To a Lost Archetype – Temple Koludra

Since their formation back in 2010, TEMPLE KOLUDRA have made small but significant waves within the German black metal scene. Although the band, until this year, were essentially inactive since their 2013 debut EP, their recent return to the scene has produced not only the excellent Tooth And Nail EP, but also their debut full length, Seven! Sirens! To A Lost Archetype, an album that perfectly captures all the things that make TEMPLE KOLUDRA so impressive, from their razor sharp, aggressive riffing to the cold and bleak atmosphere that shrouds the music, and stands as arguably the bands most enduring effort to date.

Trimurti is an excellent opening, showcasing some truly ferocious, tight and caustic black metal, with some great, jarring hooks, precise percussion and coarse, arid vocals all making for a vast and aggressive sound, with some slightly more ethereal passages coming into play a little later in the track, bridging the songs first and second half, and providing a break from the aural assault that defined the first few minutes. It’s a great opener that sets the listener up very well for the rest of the record. Vajra really leans into the more atmospheric aspects of the bands sound, creating a haunting, hypnotic sound that cloaks the more vicious and rabid side of the music extremely well. It’s got a solid groove that really helps to elevate this song and ultimately make it an early highlight. Grey Apparition is a relatively short affair for this album, lasting about five minutes, and making the absolute most of this limited running time, cramming every moment with dizzying, cacophonous guitars, feral, acidic vocals and some truly impressive drum work that ties all of the music together incredibly well, making this a song that is as catchy as it is monstrous.

Namapura is perhaps the stand out moment of Seven! Sirens! To A Lost Archetype. Starting with an eerie motif, it quickly launches into a mid-paced, yet very intense slab of monolithic black metal with a dark and haunting ambience, characterised by huge guitars, steady, authoritative drumming and hellish, howling vocals. Other than a few chaotic moments towards the close of the track, this maintains a measured, powerful approach with a heavy emphasis on minimalist keyboards, not getting even slightly dull over the course of nearly ten minutes. This Diadem Will Last carries forward the symphonic edge, with the keyboards becoming far more adventurous, and the vocals and guitars taking a noticeable back seat on here, making this a far more grandiose and memorable sound. When the guitars and vocals do make an appearance they strike a sharp, spartan contrast to the rest of the music, carving dense, grating paths through the sublime keyboard heavy sound.

Vertigo, with its vast, sprawling sound, is a fantastic, mesmerising song with an absolutely gargantuan sound, with massive chords, solid drumming patterns and roaring, rabid vocals, with plenty of well placed keyboard sections adding even further depth to an already colossal sound. Although it is a decent track with an great sound, it does outstay it’s welcome a little bit, and, unlike the previous two tracks, doesn’t possess much in the way of notable hooks in order to captivate the listener all the way through. The final, lengthy offering on this record is White I Trance, a dark piece of music that has, at certain points, an oppressively massive sound with a jarring, cacophonous edge that blends in the bands more ethereal side, making this an incredibly interesting song from start to finish. Ebbing and flowing between monstrous, beefy sections and decidedly more sublime ones, it’s a track with a lot of great ideas on full display, something that sets it apart from many of the songs that came before it, and making for an amazing climactic point to a very impressive record.

Seven! Sirens! To A Lost Archetype is a very good debut record that presents plenty of great music and well thought out compositions, especially towards the albums second half, where a more symphonic side comes to the fore. At points, it is genuinely impressive to consider that all this music was written and recorded by a single person. Seven! Sirens! To A Lost Archetype‘s main downfall, however, is it’s length; many of these songs would have greatly benefited from being a few minutes shorter, and there are some sections in certain songs that feel drawn out and completely unnecessary. Nonetheless, this is an incredibly solid debut record that sets a very high bar for any future material to surpass.

Rating: 8/10

Seven! Sirens! To A Lost Archetype is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records. 

Like TEMPLE KOLUDRA on Facebook.