Twin Temple has a touch of Ghost syndrome. Wherein their imagery very much does not entirely match the music the band puts out. You’d be forgiven for thinking you were going to get something dark, gothic, possibly symphonic metal as opposed to the music by The Ronettes, lyrics by Slayer that you are ultimately met with.
God is Dead is their second full length album and the follow up to their debut Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound…. Satanic Doo-Wop) from 2019. An album that made me fall in love with the band, giving me sky high expectations for a follow up
If you have been following the band for some time then this album will yield little in the way of surprises. They have a formula and they stick to it. That isn’t a bad thing per se, but there is very little in the way of variety here.
Lyrics veer between the satanic and the sexual, everything is a little bit spooky and its all wrapped up in 3 minute songs that sound like the kind of thing Johnny & Baby danced to on that fateful summer at Kellermans.
Twin Temple are certainly a unique enough band, especially for one that occupies the Rock space. God is Dead is less than half an hour long. The issue becomes that nothing is that memorable this time around.
There are certainly moments on here where it all works. Burn Your Bible, (Fallin’ For A) Fallen Angel & Be A Slut certainly have some charm to them. Evoking memories of a bygone era, they’ll have you tapping your toes and nodding your head, but once the album ends there won’t be much of a lasting impression left.
To be clear, God is Dead is not a bad album. It’s short, well produced and does exactly what it sets out to do. It’s just that they never really stretch themselves any further than the base premise. This feels more like a retread of what brought them to the table rather than an evolution of their sound & themes. Time will tell if they continue to put style over substance or if they have something more in their bag of tricks.Â
God is Dead is out on October 13 via Rise Above Records
