Temples On Mars Drop A Massive Album
- R.A.G.
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
A new album released from a brings together a slew of influences by bending genres and taking elements of alternative rock, metal, and electronic rock, and bringing those together to create vast undertones, aggressive soundscapes, and anthemic, powerhouse style choruses that let the record completely thrive from beginning to end.
The Last Ship is an album that keeps you on your toes because halfway through it you begin to expect the unexpected. There are a lot of confluent and consistent elements to the record, but they're always going in different directions and surprising you.
I love this because a lot of the songs showcase cinematic backbone, and they somehow share a slightly futuristic tonality. They can be spacious but aggressive and edgy at the same time.
The very first track on the record is a perfect example of exactly what I mean.
"Sleepwalking into Extinction" is a massive cry out and works mainly because the atmosphere the track boasts is so huge.
Songs like this deliver a lot of that theatrical or cinematic tone while packing a lot of punch. The guitar tones alone are the perfect amount of edge to let the song build into an alternative rock soundscape.
The ribs are amazing on this track, and that's something that a lot of the record delivers as well. A lot of the guitar work across this album is intense and smart. It's not just one genre. Again, it blends elements of electronic, all kinds of metal, and a lot of alternative rock.
The drumming is the same thing. The drummer doesn't just sit in the pocket. He adds the drive to the songs, and he also brings a certain liveliness that the rest of the band sort of pushes off of.
This first single is an amazing track to introduce the record with because you are getting some of those Staples that the whole album will portray; however, listening to only one or two tracks on this record will not give you the spectrum of what the whole record has to offer.
As I mentioned, there are loads of surprises around the corners, different directions and songwriting, and tracks that will either hit you like a sucker punch to the gut, or swallow you whole with that expansive soundscape.
Some tracks to both of those at once.
There are also loads of experimental sounds across this thing. Songs like "Smile" start bringing in more of the electronic tonalities using digital synthesizers, along with heavy-handed guitars and belting vocals.
The textures of the synthesizers and the guitars alone blend in such a unique fashion that you get pulled into that aspect of the song Alone.
Tracks like this also serve as a fists-in-the-air banger as well.
They're able to pull together elements of progressive songwriting and experimental approaches, with classic, powerful hooks that do not lack pop sensibility, but come forth with more of an impactful heaviness.
They're also tracks that remind you of shoegaze, like "Daydreamer", which is probably one of their more straightforward tracks, but also gives you that very sonically driving wall of sound that comes crashing down. It's a song that pays a lot of attention to the details of how they're instruments sound tonally.
I track like this one has these elements of reverb effect on certain instruments. This adds depth to it and makes things come across feeling robust and full-bodied.
It's amazing how they can pull together such a sonic presence as a whole. Sounds like this one sort of swims around in the air that surrounds you, but doesn't lose any of that energy that the rest of the record has.
That's another thing. The energy level across this record is outstanding. At times, it can give the air of a live performance.
It feels almost like some of this record was recorded live on the floor, all at once, and everyone involved was feeding off of each other's energies the entire time.
There is an element of the entire album that feels like it's alive and breathing, and that is a unique attribute to give off.
Even if I'm wrong about the whole live on the floor recording aspect, listening to this record makes you want to go see the band perform it in a live performance setting.
This is simply because, if they can capture that kind of aesthetic on record so well, then seeing them live must just be unreal.
A lot of this record is again, super atmospheric. It does surround you and pull you into its unique world.
The bass guitar tone on this thing is heavy. A lot of the time, it rattles and rumbles, giving songs a deepening, almost thunderous kind of undertone.
Tracks like "No Love Lost" display such a bass tone damn near perfectly.
You can hear that thing just destroying beneath those guitars and giving everything a platform to stand on.
This is an album meant to be heard in full, all in one shot.
Like I said before, some of these songs stand on their own two feet super well as singles, including some of the tracks I mentioned already.
Listening to the full album gives you a bigger experience. It's a better journey, and it's a way for you to wrap your head around this lush and heavy, deepening, and very intense set of layers and textures that all give off.
Vocals are always melodic, but they can be more aggressive at certain times. I love it when the vocals are really belting out and giving off that powerful approach.
Other times, vocals are used more as a background instrument, adding yet another layer of tone or Texture to songs that already have a lush or depth to them.
So, there's a lot to soak in here, but I do suggest doing it all.
The album is 10 songs and spans almost 50 minutes in length.
This is for people who love cinematic alternative heaviness because they nail that aesthetic perfectly.
Don't just take my word for it, though, take a deep dive into this one right now, please turn it up.
Even better, listen to this with headphones on because then you can really soak it all in properly.