Album Review: Dark Meditation - Polluted Temples
Reviewed by Sam Jones
I always have a particular liking to a band’s first full length release. Its that unique opportunity a band has to finally start flexing themselves a fully fledged force amongst the world of metal. Dark Meditation are one such band in this instance, releasing Polluted Temples, their debut album, come the end of January. They formed out of Seattle, United States and since 2019 have been releasing a comfortable string of Demos that was nicely packaged and released once more as a Demo Compilation in 2020. Now with these releases under their belt, it appears Dark Meditation’s confidence has only grown seeing as we have a full length release upon the horizon. What hooked me into their sound, upon taking in some teased tracks, was the retro vibe I was picking up. Dark Meditation are a heavy metal band through and through, there isn’t a fleck of anything extreme or radical to be found on them, yet I couldn’t rid myself of the mysterious and alluring quality their sound held for me. So, I decided to go further and behold what Polluted Temples had in store for me.
Can I say how much I love the drums here? They don’t sound like your average and tinny performance, whatever magic has been applied to them during the mixing process has rendered them with a resolute and definitive striking sound. Listening to their beat feels so good as we’re given drumming that is right up in our faces yet, since they’ve been produced with a particular sheen and clarity to them, they don’t come off as obnoxious nor are they lacking in cohesion. We’re always able to hear the drums at any point of the record, we are always capable at making out the residual impact the drums convey throughout their performance. The bass drumming is perfectly mixed in whereby it isn’t overly aggressive, the band do a great job at keeping it levelheaded and down to earth for us. It never escapes us nor does it run out of steam further into the record, by keeping things rooted to the Earth they ensure the drumming won’t tire us out the further into the record we venture.
This is the kind of heavy metal sound that is going to keep within its own box if you will, however it’s still going to provide you with all the entertainment and power you’d want to discover within. As a result of the very meticulous and coordinated band attempt that this record holds for us, the songwriting isn’t the kind that will spontaneously break out into greater bouts of explosive energy. This is the kind of record that will establish its four walls pretty strongly early on in the record and then stick to them, however we mustn’t infer that they erect the boundaries of their album out of limitation, it’s abundantly evident that the band certainly possess their own identity and they understand pretty deeply how to work within their walls to produce the best quality music they know they can attain. You won’t find wailing guitar solos or banshee-like vocal performances here, the band thoroughly know what they’re capable of and are more than comfortable with that fact. It’s a show of confidence, one that only thickens the more you listen to this.
I think that’s why I like the vocal performance for what it is. As mentioned beforehand, this isn’t a vocal presence that’s going to throw you into bursts of hysteria out of vocal prowess or sheer talent. What you get is what you get, it’s the type of vocal delivery that, like the songwriting and instrumental elements, has established itself quite early on for what audiences may come to expect for the rest of the record. Sometimes that may rise to be a drawback for some bands however, due to the band’s established communication with the audience we now know, it’s an active choice. The vocals have this reserved, calm but pronounced stage presence instilling you with the faith that the vocals shall carry you through. It’s not a conventional vocal delivery nor is the timbre what you’d immediately expect to get from a metal act, but it works within the confines of Dark Meditation’s self-imposed aesthetic and atmosphere. If they were more energetic and reckless they wouldn’t work, it’s a healthy synergy of instrumentation and vocalisation that gives this record the flow and offbeat power it possesses.
One aspect of the band that may end up being easily forgotten or unnoticed, is in fact the slight synthesiser that runs throughout the album. There are periods here and there, of the synthesiser coming through with greater resolve and presence however, for the most part, it tends really to stick to the same dichotomy of the bass: stay in the background and provide the framework by which the rest of the band can shine and draw in their fans. But it’s also nice to hear some good synthesiser work for a change, it’s something I haven’t heard applied to a work of conventional heavy metal for a while and it honestly helps to instil that additional variable of aesthetic to the band’s already established atmosphere. As a major and impacting force it barely registers as such, however the fact that it’s here at all demonstrates the band’s willingness to incorporate it into their main songwriting. You may sometimes hear it at the start of a song or two, you may find it’s keys playing streamlined synthesiser tracks throughout the milder moments of a few songs, but on the whole the synthesiser is a stoic force herein that simply does its job leaving it up to us determine its worth in conjunction with the rest of the record’s performance.
In conclusion, this to me is a kind of 1980s retro metal record that knows how to hold back its own fire. In a sense Dark Meditation remind me deeply of what Haunt have managed to convey through their own discography: a mellow but focused metal attack that really harnesses the old school vibe that Dark Meditation possess. I’m unsure if everyone will take to this album though, I feel like some people may get turned off by the somewhat rigid soundscape the band throw up for us. What the band unveil at the beginning of the record is what you’ll receive for the full duration, there’s very little swaying here and there towards a wider variety however I found this never to be a problem. Since the band’s soundscape was so particular it really enables me to immerse myself within their approach to songwriting. So ultimately, this is an album that is going to draw many people to it as much as people may be put off by it. It’s an odd one but it’s an oddity I’m here for.
