Album Review: Grond - The Temple
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Seeing this record secure a release date brought me great excitement; Grond, hailing from Moscow, Russia, were one of the very first bands I encountered when I truly began exploring the Underground, rapidly falling in line with their looming, towering extreme metal. Formed in 2002, Grond take great inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and with their first EP, 2010’s Steel Coffins, the band established early on what fans could expect. This was only built upon as they released their debut album, 2013’s Howling From The Deep, soon succeeded by their second EP, 2015’s Cosmic Devonian. I thoroughly enjoyed these releases and Grond only continued to grow on me with a record that came out the following year, with 2016’s Worship The Kraken. After their 2019 Split with Graceless little was heard out of the band, until early this year where Grond finally announced their third full length album, their first in a decade. Signed onto Xtreem Music, The Temple sees Grond return with their signature death metal onslaught as they wreak and devastate everything around them and come April 30th, old and new fans alike will join in on their rampage. I was more than excited to delve back into Grond’s savagery.
As if announcing their first record back in ten years, The Temple opens with this enigmatic introduction beckoning all come forth and return in servitude. It’s this magnificent call to arms following a lengthy slumber and while you can feel the power coursing through their songwriting, the total mass of their strike is yet to fall. The result is a band understanding what their absence must have felt to their fans, as well as to themselves, as they herald a new age. As the great bulk of their performance begins thereafter it’s nice to acknowledge they bring strength in droves yet it’s far from overly encompassing. Grond may envelop you within their clutches but it’s not as if you can’t espy some cracks through the multitudinous layers of armour they bare. Riffs come fast and tight but they drop the hammer momentarily to let some good old fashioned solos and ripping licks loose.
With that said, The Temple isn’t afraid to thrust its songwriting, and the band too, as close to your face as social etiquette dictates. Their riffs are chunky, even when bridges consist of these connecting streams of strumming, so there’s little chance of your missing what’s coming. This results in repeat listens being active choices as opposed to questioning whether you picked up everything the band in relevance were dishing out. It manages to be this swelling, engorged beast without consuming every single point of sight your eyes may perceive; listen closely to Grond’s sound and there’s no doubt they’re vying for the grandest, oldest depiction of Lovecraftian-infused music they believe is possible, yet it’s far from the most crushing and sensory bludgeoning malaise they could subject audiences to.
Can we take a moment to appreciate how sick the production is here? Like a finely cooked ribeye steak The Temple is succulent and juicy to experience. Not only does the guitar work step forth with blistering licks and soloing that’s just fun to hear, but it manages to convey a clarity that death metal shouldn’t be afraid to boast. We must iterate forthwith, The Temple is no clean machine for its songwriting is effused with grime, draped in all the odious detritus of oceanic garb but with all this displayed Grond still gift their songwriting the minimal of barriers possible, doing so limiting the loss of power transferral from band to audience.
The vocals are a standout for me here as drummer Konstantin Kovalenko manages to smash out these bellowing and sustained notes, conjuring eldritch nightmares, all the while delivering enormous bouts of bass drumming and other patterns maintaining an active pace, never losing your engagement. Atmospherically rich his vocals pierce the mire and the plethora of instrumentation on show for us. Granted you won’t pick many words up but that’s besides the point concerning Grond’s atmospheric qualities, for listening to them hurls you with total abandon into Lovecraft’s merciless realms. Some may hear the vocals herein and think them no different to a myriad of other deliveries, but Grond aren’t looking to strike out and break the wheel. Their vocals do the job, they’re effective, and that is what matters in the context of The Temple.
In conclusion, The Temple is a grand return to form for the band, easily the very thing Grond were hoping for given how many years it’s been following their last studio album release. As we’ve covered, this record isn’t going to change the way one looks at death metal nor do they perform anything hitherto unique to the genre but what they do achieve is ensuring you’ll want to return sooner rather than later. This is precisely the churning and heinous work I expected from Grond for in spite of the gap between records, their previous material filled me with enough confidence to understand I was in capable hands. This is the record Grond needed to release to entice a new wave of fans over to their corner, and hopefully guarantee such an absence of activity isn’t the case again. Thoroughly enjoyable and with plenty to dive into The Temple is a runaway success for the band.
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