Power is a magnificent thing when in isolation. However, if you are unable to channel what it offers and brings to the table, all too easily can you find yourself biting off far more than you can chew with your creation coming across as half-baked, falling short, and disappointingly not live up to its full potential. In the world of metal, knowing how to channel that awesome might can make or break any album. For some, it’s a task that’s not easily completed. But for others like Temple Guard, the results are simply bombastic.
Out of the gate, it’s important to identify this metallic hardcore performance as anything but a work that sought to reinvent the sound or go against any of the core principles that has made this sound something to watch closely. Even if this sort of sound isn’t in your every day listening habits, there’s something about a band that can come around, make a significant amount of noise with their magnificent strength, and execute it all without a shred of mercy that we can rarely ever turn away from. For everything that’s delivered throughout the eight tracks of “Citadel in Flames”, it’s made obviously virtually instantaneously that Temple Guard took the gloves right off and is playing dirty. Across what seems like a scant runtime of twenty-five minutes for eight pieces, this is a record that does anything but waste time or leave anything on the table! Overflowing with riffs and more than enough aptitude to truly channel their might into something overwhelming and compelling, Temple Guard seizes every possible opportunity to pulverize their listeners, turning them into little more than a fine red mist in the wind.
This is precisely what many entities in this genre strive for with extremely few able to deliver. By all accounts, Temple Guard proves to be amongst the few with everything offered throughout “Citadel in Flames”. Uncompromising power and ferocity combined with intelligent songwriting and supreme capability, you simply cannot go wrong with Temple Guard here.
LISTEN to “Citadel in Flames” on Bandcamp here.
FOLLOW Temple Guard on Instagram here.