The 4th full-length by this Australian band. By now, Temple Nightside require little to no introduction. Their vision still boundless (and boundlessly) black, the band return with the all-new “Pillars of Damnation”. Not for nothing is it titled as such: dense foundations of eldritch dread are both built around the listener and crushed by their hulking onslaught of sepulchral decibels. It´s immediately and irrevocably Temple Nightside in their purest, most punishing form -bestial pulses evaporating into a smokestack-sized fog of frightening, palpable evil- but here rendered in a dexterously taut manner, and one even deceptively “anthemic” if you will. For where so much nowadays “cavernous Death/Black Metal” slathers on lazy glazes of half-formed riff masquerading as “atmosphere,” this Oz cult instead write riffs, and their intensity has subsequently sharpened to a stultifying degree, lending a certain clarity to that evil that´s even more intimidating. We´d be loathe to qualify this attack as “tighter” lest one think of popcorn-triggered “Death/Black Metal”, but it does give pause for reflection on this subtle-yet-radical development. Which is to say nothing of the closing 10-minute monolith “Damnation”, which will bury you! In short, Temple Nightside are Death/Black Metal necromancy of the highest order, more so now than ever -and forever shall they reign.