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Perdition Temple: Edict of the Antichrist elect

13/11/12 || Habakuk

Aight, so what do we have on the plate today? Perdition Temple is basically what’s left of the now defunct Angelcorpse whose “Exterminate” and “The inexorable” albums got a fair amount of spins from me. And they’re actually pretty damn good still. That said, what’s missing in Perdition Temple is face and voice of the old band, Pete Helmkamp. The immediate main effect of this is of course guitarist Gene Palubicki taking over bass and vocals, but we’ll get to that later. A side effect first off might be the lack of controversy and notoriety the band has built up over the last years – or have you heard (of) Perdition Temple? I guess not, and that’s forgivable. Still, I have a feeling Helmkamp’s Revenge had it a little better for some reason (Helmkamp?!), although I consider them to be pretty abysmal musically, in the worst imaginable way.

So anyway, Palubicki and his comrade Mr. Terry Eleftheriou do their best to keep the black/death ball rolling, with a cover artwork that’s as close to a Swastika as you can get without being one and lyrics that might evoke images of the social darwinistic ideas prevalent in Angelcorpse, but staying on the “safe side” never taking any stance on matters like the “Plague camp”. … Plague camps. Blessing or curse? We just don’t know.

Really, does anyone still get riled up by stuff like this? These guys, just like their precursor sure give the impression that they’re oh-so subversively provocative, but for me personally, it just floats by. Evoke as much superhuman genocide as you will.

So yeah, this is standard fare in the lyrical department, what about the music? I bought this in the hope for more Angel Corpse, and Palubicki is the dude behind their trademark Morbid Angel-with-a-twist riffs, after all. And lo and behold, songs like “Genocide Evocation”, while not exactly achieving any racially motivated mass murder, evoke that good old feeling from time to time again, when black and death mix and morph from weirdly dissonant to menacing, blast beat-propelled frenzy. The Genester actually sounds pretty damn good on vocals as well, doing his best throaty Helmkamp impersonation. What’s happening behind the kit is also quite true to what Angelcorpse was about, but there’s this one big letdown, and it is – you guessed it – the production. With riffs and drumming meant to overpower by sheer force and aggression, a thin production job that especially sterilizes the drums (note use of almost provocative vocabulary) just doesn’t cut it. So while a lot of the ingredients are there, this just lacks that final vicious bite that set Angelcorpse apart. And it doesn’t help that with the distinct composition style of theirs which is being continued here, even that band had to battle monotony constantly. Here, some songs just fail to grab your attention. However, they at least keep the album’s vibe up and it’s definitely a record that can be listened through from start to finish, no problem. Don’t expect to be blown away all the time, but there is the odd bad-ass riff to be found, if you give it a chance.

Bottom line: If you have no idea what this review was about, listen to some Angelcorpse, for fuck’s sake. If you have, then know that despite some apparent flaws, fans of said band will find something enjoyable here, and since I count myself as one, my score is still a solid:

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Osmose Productions
Website: Perdition Temple MySpace
Band
Gene Palubicki: vocals, guitars, bass
Terry Eleftheriou: drums

Tracklist
01.Genocide evocation
02. From this darkness of flesh
03. In the name of a newborn tyrant
04. Lust carnage
05. Testament to annihilation
06. Plague camp
07. Spearhead of the conquering
08. To bleed at war

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