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Temple Balls: Pyromide
Temple Balls - Pyrocide Album Art

Temple Balls: Pyromide

Melodic Heavy Metal Rock
4.0/5.0

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Frontiers Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 31.03.2021 | Released: 09.04.2021

While perhaps not a household name in the European hard rock arena, Finland's Temple Balls has been working hard to make themselves and their music known. Since 2016 they released numerous singles, cut two studio albums, appeared with bands such as Queen, Deep Purple, Sonata Arctica, and Uriah Heep, and found their way to Japan in 2017. In the land of the rising sun, legendary Japanese music critic Masa Ito dubbed Temple Balls "The Newcomer of the Year." Now the band returns with their third long player, Pyromide, on the Frontiers Music label.

Temple Balls - Click For Larger Image

Temple Balls

So, is Temple Balls worth of all the fuss? Yeah. I would say so. Essentially, the quintet plays classic melodic hard rock with a significant, and sometimes speedy, metal edge, and then drops in some AOR accessible nuances. A twin guitar attack delivers the riff harmony and generous leads while the rhythm section powers the band with gallop and groove. Arde Teronen's vocals are assertive and, at times, can veer towards off the rails screamo as with What Is Dead Never Dies or Thunder From The North. Yet both songs are hard, heavy, and intense; Teronen's voice merely adds to the intensity. Alternatively, while still assertive, his vocals can advance the song melody and harmony as with Fallen Youth or You Better Run.

To mention a few more songs, you'll hear some riff raging numbers with Unholy Night and Heart Of A Warrior which finish with equally raging guitar solos. Alternatively, rather than being hard and heavy, Bad Bad Bad turns upon a toe-tapping AOR groove wrapped in sharp riffs and accented by a catchy chorus. Similar is Something To Die For wherein hard rock beat and groove reinforce the riff harmony and quick pace, but the refrain is much more subtle. Yet, within all these things I heard two things that only emotion and commitment to a strong musical work ethic can add: energy and enthusiasm. Temple Balls sounds like they're not only putting their talent into the music, but heart and soul as well, and they're having fun doing so.

All said, for a contemporary presentation of metal-infused, AOR-influenced, classic melodic hard rock, Finland's Temple Balls and Pyromide are the real deal. Check them out. Recommended. (But where did that band name come from?)




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The Bottom Line

For a contemporary presentation of metal-infused, AOR-influenced, classic melodic hard rock, Finland's Temple Balls and Pyromide are the real deal. Check them out. Recommended.

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