This three-piece French black metal outfit garnered quite a bit of attention with their contribution to Drakkar's sampler a few years back and their "Black Unholy Presence" demo which was reissued last year on Oaken Shield. They return on Oaken Shield again with the full-length "Servants of the Beast", which is quite the heavy little piece of black metal. Despite being French, they harken back to the more classic Norse/Darkthrone style as exemplified by the "Under a Funeral Moon" album: streamlined, simplistic riffs and songs, and a slight touch of 'rocking-ness' added to the brutality. It's black, it's heavy, it's metal, and they don't descend into swede-core blasting or melodic wankery. At just a little over 32 minutes they get in, get the face-beating done, and get out without overstaying their welcome. Unlike your more typical norsecore clones, Temple of Baal manage to capture the ATMOSPHERE of that style, not just the riffs, and so manage to come up with something I think is worthwhile. Even if you are overplayed-out on Norse-ish black metal, I'd recommend this as they have a conviction that makes it enjoyable.

© 2003 lord vic