#TempelWolf Hirschgeweihmaskeraden
3 min read
Band: Tempel Wolf
Title: Hirschgeweihmaskeraden
Label: Vendetta Records
Release date: 07 April 2023
Country: Switzerland
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording
Tempel Wolf is a trio from Switzerland and “Hirschgeweihmaskeraden” is their first release. An EP according to the band (for me it looks more like an album, considering that I know albums much shorter than this EP) divided into 4 themes…
According to the research carried out to get to know the band a little better, I discovered that it belongs to the Helvetic Underground Committee (The Helvetic Underground Committee is a circle of affiliated music entities based in Zürich, Switzerland), this group is not strange to me because I know some bands belonging to the same. Obviously, it would make perfect sense for Tempel Wolf to belong, as its members belong to other bands that are already members of this group. We will be present from a side project, will we?
Moving on to the review…
This EP starts with an intro, with some acoustic guitars, an ambient sound in the background, some simple but effective chants… Well done and a good introduction for the rest of the EP.
The second song “Der Welten Fall”, presents a cohesive Black Metal, well structured, strong, and very easy and pleasant listening. With several passages and time changes, creating several moments of very good quality. There are ups and downs throughout this song, I’m not referring to the quality but to the change of tempos, these even remind me of some bands in the early 00s that were starting to mix Black Metal with Doom Metal. The speed and coldness in the riffs used in Black Metal and the slow cadence and agony created by Doom Metal. The mix was well achieved in my opinion and having an increase in the Black Metal part of a more atmospheric part that appears here and there.
The third song is a song that serves as an interlude for the next and last song on this EP. In this small music space, I listen to a dash of folk music that would look great in a documentary or film dedicated to European pagan culture.
And no matter how much you listen, the last song arrives and it has the same name as the EP. “Hirschgeweihmaskeraden” starts in a melancholic way and with a slow rhythm, a kind of introduction for the rest of the song, this one takes almost 3 minutes until the Black Metal of this band comes to the top, and the atmospheric part appears once more time here and there.
During the Black Metal phase, I noticed some things that weren’t so present in “Der Welten Fall” the second song of this EP.
A drum set (the beat/rhythm) with a mixture of riffs/beats that sometimes seems like a Black Punk Metal band, a more atmospheric part with a way of singing that reminds you of sick chants. This song also reminded some Icelandic Black Metal bands, lacking only a more rotten and dirty sound.
It was a surprise, I liked what I heard, however not as powerful as the other bands these members are part of, at least that’s my opinion.
It’s a release that if you listen calmly, pay attention to the details present here and that is positive, a release that could be the “introduction” for the future album, if that same is within my line of this EP, however, let a particular bittersweet taste…
Yes, it is true. It’s bittersweet because it tastes so little and I wanted more but it felt good to listen to the musical quality present in this EP. I hope the next release is soon and that you can listen. Whether it’s an album or an EP, preferably an album. 7.5/10 by TKK666
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