AN NCS INTERVIEW: ALEXANDER AWN (TEMPLE OF VOID)

 Interviews  No Responses »
Sep 032014
 


photo by alloyheart

(NCS contributor KevinP interviews guitarist Alexander Awn of Detroit’s Temple of Void, whose new album (Of Terror and the Supernatural will be released later this month.)

 

K: Alexander, thanks for taking the time with me today. I will admit, I was only recently aware of you chaps when I saw the song “Savage Howl” posted (somewhere). Now after spinning your debut album quite a few times, I’m kinda taken aback at how “new” a band you are.

A: Kevin, thanks for getting in touch with us and taking the time to check our shit out. We’re a new band…but we’re not new to this scene or making music by any stretch of the imagination. Our demo came out in May 2013 and the album is coming out Sept 2014. We’ve only played about 10 shows. We’re all in our 30’s and 40’s. So doing something on this level is natural at this point.

 

K: Where would people know you from before this?

A: Probably our most notorious face would our vocalist Mike Erdody aka Mike Tuff. He’s currently kicking ass in a variety of bands like Acid Witch, Failed, Nuke, Harbinger, and probably some more that I’ve forgotten off the top of my head.

I play in Hellmouth. But I’ve been doing bands and touring the country since I was a teenager. Brent (bassist) is in the same category. We’ve probably done 4 bands together. Jason (drums) was in a well known Detroit punk band called The Feisty Cadavers. And he rips it up in the Motrorcity Troubadours.

Eric (guitars) was most recently in Knife. But he’s been doing music since he was a teenager, too. One of his early bands was a death metal band called Kathode (that also had Andrew W.K.). Continue reading »

JUMP-START YOUR MONDAY WITH TEMPLE OF VOID, DAJJAL, MUTILATION PROCESS, AND ZOMBIEFICATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 142014
 

If you’re like me, you have a hard time getting your game face on for the work week when Monday mornings roll around. But assorted friends of mine pointed me to two new songs yesterday that seem tailor-made to juice up all those sluggish Monday-morning brains out there, and I’ve also included a review of a murderous two-song EP plus one phenomenally good new Zombiefication track I found on my own that will finish the job nicely. Death fucking metal.

TEMPLE OF VOID

In June 2013 I praised a three-song demo by Detroit’s Temple of Void, which included some truly staggering, mega-weight riffs and a blanket of indigo melodies, usually delivered at a lumbering pace, along with elements of viscera-draped death metal a la Autopsy, a pummeling of Bolt-Thrower-style hammer blows, and some inspired psychedelic guitar solos. Now these dudes have finished a full-length album (Of Terror and the Supernatural), and yesterday an advance track became available for listening.

“Savage Howl” is a fitting name for this thing. The big gear-grinding guitar chords are savage, the gruesome deep-throated vocals are savage, the morbid melodies are savage, and when the band start rolling out a repeating cycle of enormous, stomping riffs, you will headbang savagely. This is top-shelf supernatural death/doom and a really enticing teaser for the album to come. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: TEMPLE OF VOID — “DEMO MMXIII”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Jun 202013
 

This is the first of two short, new, doom-flavored offerings that I’m reviewing today, both with the name Demo MMXII. This first one comes our way from Detroit’s Temple of Void, and it’s their first recorded output. However, you wouldn’t guess that in listening to the three songs, because they already sound like mature, self-assured creations.

I’ve already slapped the “doom-flavored” label on the music, but let me hasten to add that doom is only one of its ingredients. It does indeed feature some truly staggering, mega-weight riffs, a blanket of indigo melodies, and an often lumbering pace. But that’s not all. Also in the mix you’ll discover elements of viscera-draped death metal a la Autopsy, you’ll be pummeled by hammer blows of Bolt Thrower-style riffing, and you’ll be transported by some inspired psychedelic guitar solos.

The tempos never reach the pace of a gallop, but they do vary. The first two tracks, “Beyond the Ultimate” and “Exanimate Gaze” are fine examples. They start with massive riffs that are so damned infectious someone ought to notify the Center for Disease Control (and holy hell, the bass guitar in the intros  is absolutely titanic). And while “Beyond the Ultimate” eventually falls heavily into a dirge-like crawl, “Exanimate Gaze” spools up into a ghoulish charge that will get heads banging vigorously. Continue reading »

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