French blackened death metal horde Temple of Baal have been around since the late 1990's, and Verses of Fire is their fourth full length album to go along with plenty of splits, demos, and live releases. Much like Belphegor & Behemoth, Temple of Baal have come from black metal beginnings to incorporate a healthy amount of death metal to their sound over the years, bringing forth a hybrid sound that is fast, brutal, and exciting. Don't expect anything groundbreaking though on Verses of Fire, but it's all very well executed extreme metal and highly enjoyable. "Bloodangel" rampages with plenty of evil intent, and the lengthy "Arcana Silentium" offers up some cold black metal atmosphere, crushing doom, as well as pulverizing, brutal death metal, all housed within one 7 minute package. Nicely done. "Walls of Fire" is another epic length track that contains plenty of twists and turns, with Amduscias' vocals quite deadly. One great thing is to hear the bass rumblings of Arkdaemon high up in the mix, which is very evident on the crushing "Gnosis of Fire" as he more than keeps up with the layers of jagged riffs courtesy of Saroth & Amduscias. The occasional clean vocal passage adds an operatic/epic flavor to some of these songs, and is a nice touch to offset the brutal growls.
Perhaps not a record that will change the face of extreme metal, but Verses of Fire is a very well done and satisfying black/death metal album from a band that keeps on delivering the goods.
Track Listing
1. το αστέρι 418
2. Bloodangel
3. Arcana Silentium
4. The 10th Aethyr
5. Gates of Mansion
6. Gnosis of Fire
7. Golden Wings Of Azazel
8. Lord of the Raging Seas
9. Serpens Luminis
10. Walls of Fire
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