Ah, the beautiful sound of fuzz in the morning—as if an entire band’s playing through a cigarette box amplifier with their guitars turned all the way up to eleven. Saturnalia Temple is a band adept at creating those overly-fuzzed out drones that keep your head bobbing up and down like a mechanical cat waiving in the window of your nearest Chinatown nail salon. And they do plenty of that on their new album, To The Other, released earlier this week.
First things first—the band enlisted a real heavy hitter to jump behind the kits on this one: the immortal Tim Call (Nightfell, The Howling Wind, Sempiternal Dusk, Aldebaran, Ealdath, Ardour Loom). It has to be mentioned right up front since stoner metal bands that specialize in these kinds of drone-like songs need an exceptional drummer to keep things not only on time but interesting. And the rhythm section is ultimately a huge part of what makes this album successful.
Now, moving on…I myself have never smoked pot. This is completely due to health-related issues that have kept me ignorant of the most likely wondrous effects of the Cannabis plant. The best I can do is fire up iTunes and rock the visualization feature. I must say, it was a whole lot of fun for this album. The swirling colors and bouncing paint sprays across my screen as Saturnalia Temple rocked out in their occult style through my headphones—I felt something there. I felt parts of my being float into the ethereal plain and touch the sun. Maybe I was trying too hard, but I really think the meditative droning of the music helped me reach something that was previously out of my reach.
In tracks like “Snow of Reason,” the vocals may carry the tune, but there are also songs like, “Black Sea of Power,” that are led by the guitar. There are even tracks like “March of Gha’agsheblah” where the drumming is the focal point. But overall, it’s the combination of these elements—and the way they are able to blend together in the droning fog of sludge that the band creates—that makes the tracks work. The echo-like reverb effect on the vocals blends seamlessly with the excessive fuzz on the guitars and bass. Even the lead lines, buried in the mix, whine their way through using nothing a fuzzed out electro sound similar to a theremin.
I don’t mean to completely ignore the mood here. It’s not just a weed smoking, droning album to bob your head to. To the Other is an evil album. The thematic backbone of the album is rooted deeply in the occult. Thus, the drone is more like that of a seance than a bong party. The lead lines and tortured, gutteral vocals are meant to summon forth from the beyond—to take you into the absolute destruction of the world and our universe and to resurrect you, the listener, with glory and purpose.
While Saturnalia Temple isn’t exactly my style of music, I found myself listening to To the Other and humming it more often than I expected. I might not be running back to this one come November, but, as I said, the genre is not exactly my cup of tea to begin with. So the fact that it made such an impression on me bodes well for you lovers of occult rock and stoner, acid or doom metal. It’s a solid piece of work that is not only well thought out but well executed. I expect this one to be quite popular with the cool kids.
– Manny-O-War
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