Twin Temple – God Is Dead

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I discovered Twin Temple years ago, shortly before the pandemic, when they dropped by in Helsinki for a show, and was immediately bewitched by them. Bringing back that golden time of rock 'n' roll and doo-wop back in the 40s and 50s, but with a wonderful and whimsical Satanic sauce poured over it, Twin Temple really is a fresh wind in the music scene. They've been spreading their message of satanism and feminism all over the world, supporting Ghost on most of their world tour, and just hot of their US tour with Danzig and Behemoth. And now they released a brand-new album of songs on the all too fitting October Friday the 13th for us to revel in!

The album starts off with some ominous thunder and church bell sounds on the opening track ‘Burn Your Bible’, to quickly roll into the sound anyone familiar with the band has come to expect. The music is usually relatively straightforward and simple, and to be honest, nothing new. But it’s being done so well, that you can’t help yourself but move along to the soulful music. And add to that the always impressive vocals by Alexandra James, increasing the soul put into the music several times over. And in this first song she’s not holding back any bit with long belts and an almost smokey sounding timbre. What makes this band so uniquely them and stand out among their contemporaries (and similar sounding acts from back in the day), are the cheekily written lyrics that talk about burning bibles, black magick, satanism, feminism, seduction and sexual prowess. A contrast to the upbeat and soulful music that is highly appreciated by me, and by a whole lot of other people all across this planet. They continue with the more down tempo ‘(Fallin’ For A) Fallen Angel’ to then go into a bop of a song with ‘Let’s Have A Satanic Orgy’. It’s a sultry invitation to join them into whatever fun they might be having, a highly danceable, extremely catchy song with plenty of sensual sounds. The music is great, Alexandra‘s voice is mesmerizing and sultry, but what really drives it home, is the production of the whole album. It’s nowhere near perfect, but a perfect fit for what they are trying to do, with a sound that is very reminiscent of how the music recorded in that golden era of RnB and rock ‘n’ roll sounded like.

Which further leads into ‘Two Sinners’ another poppy RnB track, that at times brings up acts like Temptations with the harmonizing, while ‘Black Magick’ rather goes into the classic rock ‘n’ roll sound that was so popular back in the 50s. Including the proper guitar twangs and horn section, it flows along nicely into the more up-tempo ‘Spellbreaker’ that features regular growls in Alexandra‘s voice and some really badass lines like “I’m the baddest witch on the block”! That Twin Temple highly values a message of sexuality and the liberty that comes with fully embracing it, is all too clear with ‘Be A Slut”, yet another song that will find you sing along to lyrics that in another context might have seemed tacky and distasteful. To then finally come to the closer of the album, and title track, ‘God Is Dead’. An almost dark song that might become the theme song of many atheists and similarly oriented people with its almost delightful singing in the chorus stating that God is dead. And I just couldn’t help but chuckle out loud when I first heard the outro where they suddenly went “I’m so happy that God’s dead, woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, God’s dead” in seemingly pure celebration.

Twin Temple proves with their second full-length ‘God Is Dead’ that they’re not just a gimmick that doesn’t go past one album, by delivering an absolutely great piece of music. It’s all one would want from a doo-wop album, including a production and mix that sounds as if it actually was recorded back in the 40s or 50s, but with that naughty touch of satanism and horny liberation from anything that could hold you back. It’s barely half an hour of music, but it has been blasting from my speakers on repeat ever since it was released!

REVIEW SCORE

  • Music / Songwriting 8/10
  • Vocals / Lyrics 9/10
  • Mix / Production 9/10
  • Artwork & Packaging 7/10
  • Originality 10/10
8.6

Twin Temple brings that old school sound and vibe of 50s rock ‘n’ roll/RnB/doo-wop back to life in a glorious way through a message of satanism and liberation. Satanic doo-wop is an official thing now, and we’re all there for it!

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