Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Temple Of Bones is the collaborative brainchild of Mike Schweigert (Lord Sterling, Full Speed Ahead) and Brandon Thomas (Ripping Corpse, Dim Mak). The quartet was then completed by Thomas’ colleagues Scott Ruth (Ripping Corpse, Dim Mak) and Dennis Carroll (Torture Krypt, Dim Mak). So, these four put their heads and instruments together, resulting in a cocktail of death, thrash, and hardcore metal answering to the name “Walk The Winds.”
The opener and simultaneously the lead single “Black Horizon” starts off driving, then occasionally shifts into slower parts. Unfortunately, not much else happens in the song. Sadly, “Black Horizon” just doesn’t stick in my head. So let’s move on to “Sky Is Like Ocean.” Here, clear thrash metal vibes blast through the speakers. The riffs hit the mark, and the tempo carries the listener along. However, what they were thinking with the chorus is beyond me. Just as you’re getting into the groove, the chorus puts the brakes on everything. In the middle of the song, there’s another surprise moment when they indulge in traditional death metal à la Obituary.
Next up is the title track. “Walk The Winds” starts out brutally and quickly turns into a real neck-breaker. A genuine death metal track with a ’90s vibe. Easily the best track on the album so far. “Locust Thorns” leaves me with the feeling that they weren’t entirely sure where they wanted to go with the song. The individual parts feel a bit awkwardly strung together. Also not necessarily a song that burns itself into your ear canals for long.
“Lowly Demon” feels a bit more refreshing again and sounds almost like death ‘n’ roll. However, the song drags a bit towards the end. The album concludes with “Cut With Rusty Saws.” For me, a solid thrash number. The riffing here is anything but rusty and definitely hits a nerve. Even though the brakes are applied a bit after the 2-minute mark, the song doesn’t get boring. The riff just drips with malevolence.
All in all, Temple Of Bones‘ debut made no real impact with me. The album has its moments, but it fails to convince me.
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