Blackest shadows remain where death’s spells endure as carbonized remnants dust the moss-greyed tombs long haunted by Australia-based blackened death metal quartet TEMPLE NIGHTSIDE on this fifth sojourn through obliterated scenery and curse-fuming dissent. Reinforced by time’s degradation and steeled in their greater purpose the band’s efforts on ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ send unholiest echoes throughout their mausoleum, louder and increasingly dire waves of black atmospheric haunt enforced by ancient death’s pummeling insistence. Though it is a natural evolutionary step in succession of their last the band’s vigor and complexity of authorship have scaled in the years between, revealing an even more daunting malevolent force upon reappearance.

Temple Nightside carved their name into obscure monolith circa 2010 by the hand of sullen necromancer IV, best known for his work in black metal acts Austere and Funeral Mourning at the time. Soon joined by drummer Basilysk (Horrisonous, Pestilential Shadows) the first impression from the initial duo came via a self-produced demo (‘Prophecies of Malevolence‘, 2011) sporting substantive exploration of sublimely cavernous atmospheric ritual. Bearing black metal’s coldly distant stabbing hand amidst droning death worship those efforts would translate to bleakest landscapes on the duo’s debut full-length (‘Condemnation‘, 2013) taking advantage of the unique sound design offered by suggested peers and collaborators of the time, such as Grave Upheaval. Their follow-up LP (‘The Hecatomb‘, 2016) a few years later was a full embrace of the original thought wherein droning sounds and uniquely achieved vocals amounted to funeral-worthy dark surrealism. I’d consider this the end of their Mark I era and the material beyond that point pulled closer toward occult death metal favor with each release.

The second stage of Temple Nightside appeared to step beyond the veil, reducing the distance from their orator in a new Mark II configuration and completely rethinking, reinterpreting their debut LP ‘Condemnation‘ via the death metal leaning rejigger of ‘Recondemnation‘ (2018). The peak of that collaboration would sum within album number four (‘Pillars of Damnation‘, 2020), an densely writ death metal record bearing monstrous rhythmic gait and warmed-over but still bleakly atmospheric sound. I think I’d even premiered (?) the album when it’d released but apparently never reviewed it, so, I made sure to activate as haruspex to investigate ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ when it’d appeared in-box. Though I share in the universal revulsion of their former collaborator (2015-2022) I’d not overlook that fourth album as a stepping stone, or, important pretext for what the band’ve accomplished on this new record.

Torn from the illusions of detestable forces and enrobed in bestial revolt the Mark III revision of Temple Nightside includes at least two notable changes in collaboration, the first being torment-channeler Ignus Fatuus (Impetuous Ritual, Portal, et al.) being added in the second guitar chair and bassist B.R. (Grave Upheaval, Grotesque Bliss) taking on some additional vocal duties as far as I can decipher. Beyond ages worth of fandom for the folks involved much of my own personal enthusiasm heading into ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ centered around the possibilities in extension of the transformation purported by ‘Pillars of Damnation‘, welcoming a new angle. That skewed approach is delivered herein, bringing more of the black metallic lustre of the past alongside a different level of interactivity between the three main guitar threads.

Diabolic sauntering riffcraft turns to battered havoc as the swaying motion of album opener “Seething Dissolve” muscles its way forth, emitting a heat-distorted mid-paced groove coffined by blasted-through verses. Sound design here is set to a chasmic, backward echoing chamber where performances are immediate in presence, comparable to the station of Temple Nightside‘s previous LP, but with a longer tail on the trailing descent of its sustained roar. This amplifies the Incantation-esque bestial verve ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ holds as its core diabolus where the sinister underground black/death of the 90’s is refracted against expansive caverne ceilings, shaping itself unto movements folks attuned to anything from Slugathor to Necros Christos and Void Meditation Cult should generally appreciate.

“Sunken in Charnel Entrails” follows the opener with clearer black metal infusion, a nigh Scandinavian form of soldiery that carries the otherwise scaling tremolo-picked drive of the riffcraft here into tornadic whorl. It’d become one of my favorite pieces on ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ as Temple Nightside‘s action reigns consistent in focus and timbre throughout its eight pieces. Though there is notable cohesion sustained across the full listen each piece included brings a different rhythmic point of excitation, different guitar techniques or directional riffcraft, which counts toward a string of evolving interest. Stepping form the miasmic gloom of “The Slow Embalming of the Will” into the stomping groove and feral scourging of “Soul Defilement” offers one of the more effective transitions on the flow through, less a point of wild contrast and moreso an indicator of the greater conversation built across Side A‘s morbid landscape.

Side B carries on unbroken in thread, introducing a few ‘The Hecatomb‘-like features within its smaller details such as the whispers and longer-hanging atmospheric turns found on “Within Sepulchered Walls”. Alongside the aforementioned “The Slow Embalming of the Will” the neck collapsing saunter through “Desolation Utterance” would end up being my favorite song of the lot, the heaviest dread induction on offer here. Otherwise the scrambling, whammy-dragging leads scattered throughout ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ are a welcome addition thanks to their restless hand, offering a necessarily chaotic highlight to the ‘Unending Degradation‘ level plod behind that piece and “Exhumed Death” afterwards. Hammering on the thread established throughout the duration of the album’s second half helps to bring a sense of progression between its two halves while retaining the seamless drag through the abyss Temple Nightside‘ve created in effect.

The return of Temple Nightside reigns triumphal in its resurgence, regaining some of their original character but upholding, even surpassing, the sonic standards and aggression of the quartet’s previous escalations into occult death. In ramping their storied ouevre and embracing deeper atmospheric nihil within ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ they’ve managed unnerving cosmic balance between the froth of their craft and a high standard for the riff. With each successive pass I’d found their work evolving in mind, building a sensation of morbid apocalyptic dementia that’d only intensified the longer I’d given it ear. A very high recommendation.

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