Review Summary: Nothing but pain and fucking suffering....
2023 has been an EXCELLENT year for metal. We have classic, well known bands putting out some of their best stuff, but we also have newer or lesser known bands dropping absolute BANGERS. Irish one-woman raw DSBM band Spectral Temper falls into the latter category and you better watch the *** out because she just dropped her debut full-length,
Chimeric, and it is one of the best albums of the year hands down.
Obviously this woman is going through some mental anguish because this album is OOZING with pain, suffering and utter despair. You feel it from the second
Chimeric starts. This album is all about atmosphere. Riffs are very present, but at the same time, the ambience and reverbed darkness is what makes this so special. A lot of DSBM bands bitch and moan about sadness and cutting themselves. But a lot of them fail to really channel that into great music. Spectral Temper has no such problem. This lady makes damn sure the listener feels her anguish and despair. The vocals here are so terrifying they're almost not even metal vocals. They are more of a cry for help. Horrifying shouts saying "please save me from this ***ty life". She's reaching out to anyone that will listen....and I sure am.
Like I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of riffs to be found here but they ultimately take a back seat to the sheer blackness of the atmosphere. You feel as if you're in her shoes, feeling lost and empty inside. The ambient pieces here are few and far between but they add heavily to the overall sense of dread that seeps from this album's pores.
Chimeric is not for the faint of heart. Similarly to Silencer's classic DSBM masterpiece,
Death - Pierce Me, this album is not going to tickle everyone's fancy. But for people like me who love to actually feel a connection to it, you cannot go wrong. This is pain, this is suffering, this is the musical equivalent of wanting it to all end. Honestly, it's just one of the best DSBM albums ever. So if you want to wallow in this hell we call Earth, Spectral Temper would love to be your guide.
