TEMPLES

Now whilst much of the current Finnish generation of psychedelic prog rockers attempt to echo what Ozric Tentacles and fellow country men Hidria Spacefolk have been doing the past 10 years, Temples take their inspiration from a darker and heavier realm. This music is in direct lineage to the Black Sabbath of old - y'know the one you could use as paint peeler with those hard hitting growling riffs.

Periplaneta Nova reminds me of a lot of things, which probably is it's biggest problem. I get Neurosis, Dead Meadow, Black Sabbath, Earthless, Electric Wizard and a truckload of other such stoner-acts - it's deep belching dirty and gritty stoner psychedelia, that only now and again shows signs of a genuine personality(The last cut Attar comes pretty close with it's percussive ornamentations, but the foundation still remains the same).

This album sounds like it was made in the US now that I think of it. Whereas European psychedelic music currently is looking back towards the early 70s - and especially towards what was happening in the Krautrock scene where music aimed for the loose and esoterically charged, American psychedelia seems to have a thing for mixing the style up with metal. As a result of this, much of the music becomes restrained and highly structured - not that metal naturally evokes such merits within musical confines, but here it does seem to be the case more than often. Just for the record: I am a fan of the European way. I like my psych music to be as loose as a mountain of flour.

The tunes here all revolve around the riffing. Then comes a devilish coarse metallic voice that booms out in these phlegm filled passages somewhere between a morning-sick Ozzy and an acid drenched Layne Staley. Enter the midsection that usually consists of the good old metal guitar solo taken directly out of Iron Maiden's most psychedelic moments, if there ever was such a thing. The track then comes back to the fore with more riffing - now heavier and faster - with pelting drums and diagonal bass lines that zoom underneath all of these metal masquerades that unsuccessfully try to be psychedelic in a way, that to my ears anyway, equals booze, reefer and smashing up the living room.

I actually like this for a good and slow headbanger session, when my mind has had too much Captain Beefheart and just wants to be numbed in every way possible. I put this baby in the stereo and crank it way up - terrorize my neighbours(ok maybe less so than when I played the Captain Beefheart, but you probably catch my drift eh?) and waver around the room like a drunk satanic John Cleese with an urge to roam free.

This is recommended to people who enjoy any of the aforementioned bands - those of you who need structure in your psych music and furthermore aren't afraid of a slab of metal with your cactus dinner. Still I think this release fits the description of 'fans only', but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable though.