Review Summary: Toothless.
Creating religion-based music is a daring undertaking. On top of the basic expectations of the music being simply a joy to listen to, religion-centric musicians also seek to spread the word of whatever lifestyle they adhere to. This has a risk of creating polarization amongst those that may otherwise enjoy the product. Enter
Temple of Blood, a Christian thrash metal band. The basics of thrash are all present in their first album,
Prepare for the Judgment of Mankind, but it's really not enough to elevate the group beyond mediocrity.
On the surface, Prepare for the Judgment of Mankind seems like a strong album. It brings to the table everything one could expect from a group of its nature: riffs are decently varied, the frantic pace is there, and the songs generally can stand up on their individual merit. However, looking beyond face value reveals some glaring flaws which negatively influence the potential enjoyability of the album. For starters, the group's Christianity-based lyrics don't mesh well at all with the actual music. Given the blatant evidence of the album attempting to attain the typical harshness and explosive fury associated with the genre, it's very unfitting to hear this alongside lyrics which hit you over the head with a hammer about the glory of Christ. This is not to say these two things can't be done well together, but Temple of Blood lacks any subtlety about it whatsoever.
Furthermore, the overall mood of the album simply isn't quite forceful enough. This can largely be attributed to the choice of guitar tuning: it's simply too light-sounding for the album. In turn, the album almost gets caught in an awkward space between thrash and power metal, but can't truly appease members of either fanbase effectively enough to warrant attention being paid to it.
All is not bad: there are some songs which could genuinely be called stand-outs.
Trampling the Serpent, for example, is much more well-focused than the rest of the album, and attains exactly what the group seems to be going for. Had the entire album been this strong, it could easily have been labeled a success. However, tracks such as
Seeking the Truth are a stark contrast, as they never truly achieve liftoff, and wind up with nothing to truly pay attention to aside from the preachy lyrics:
There is a Lord of this world, One who created it all
There is a guide to my life, One who ordained it all
There'll be a Savior to greet me beyond on my dying day
Overall, Temple of Blood's debut seems to suffer from an identity crisis. It lacks the ability to entice listeners strongly enough to draw them in for more than a song or two at a time, and the complete absence of lyrical subtlety severely hampers the production. The final outcome is an album which, though there is a clear effort, simply lacks the bite required to succeed at the goal that was set forth for it.
Recommended Tracks:
Trampling the Serpent
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Realm of Insufferable Burning (The Horrors of Hell)
