new music: temple of dagon gives hp lovecraft a metal makeover on “rituals from the deep” #soundcheck

You don’t have to have read a lot of Lovecraft to understand the Cthulu Mythos. At this point, they’ve been so well integrated into popular culture as to be almost taken for granted. In short: ancient alien monsters who live in the dark and unknown parts of the world with total indifference to the human lives they destroy when awoken from their centuries of slumber. But listening to “Rituals From The Deep”, the new record from crust/metal band Temple of Dagon feels like the perfect soundtrack to running in terror from one of the Old Ones as they terrorize some otherwise lovely quaint New England former fishing town.

By Nathan Leigh, AFROPUNK Contributor

“Rituals From The Deep” is full of Lovecraft references. “Beyond the Limits of Sleep” is inspired by the same Lovecraft short story that gave us Black Sabbath’s “Behind the Walls of Sleep.” Singer Dwayne Burgess’s guttural death growls let him take on the voice of the Old Ones in what has to be the single most perfect use of the vocal technique. When he threatens the human race with indifferent extinction, you know he fucking means it.

The almost triumphant metal guitar leads in “Summoning the Sleeping Beast” give you the impression of the majesty and terror of an ancient beast rising from the ocean. “Slayer of Ancients” adds some thrash riffing to the mix while depicting battle with the Old Ones. I’ve spent much of my life in otherwise lovely quaint New England former fishing towns, and I can say with authority that they could use a little more ancient otherworldly terror. Barring that, turn up Temple of Dagon and watch the red tide rise.

“Rituals From The Deep” is available through Bandcamp –> http://templeofdagon.bandcamp.com/releases