Temples

Converge closed out the first day as deserving headliners, playing a range of material, including from the seminal Jane Doe, to end on a high. After a day full of such extreme music, it was quite an achievement to so resoundingly raise the ferocity levels to fever pitch, and the crowd lapped it up.

After the abrasive intensity of Friday, we began day two feeling understandably punch-drunk, and it took an excellent performance from Torche to really bring us back to life. A band on top of their game, their intense but groove-heavy sound worked the crowd a dream. The main room crowd now nicely warmed up, Goatsnake took the stage looking clearly up for the party. Pete Stahl’s classy vocal delivery, powered along by the huge riffs and backline of the band, stepped things up. As indicated by the title of their new album, Black Age Blues, there is a strong bluesy feel to their sound, emphasised by Stahl’s harmonica adding depths to certain tracks. Old material merged with a chunk of tracks from the aforementioned new record, including the excellent Elevated Man. 

Keen to see what sartorial intrigues were on offer from notoriously outlandish Aussie extreme metallers Portal, we headed straight over to the second stage. While the singer’s outfit did not disappoint, looking something like a veiled Lawrence of Arabia on holiday in hell, their death metal/black metal hybrid was a little uninspiring. Conversely, an unexpected highlight of the evening came in the form of Triptykon, the brainchild of Tom Gabriel Fischer. As one-time frontman of Celtic Frost, he has influenced a considerably percentage of the bands appearing at this festival, and it showed in this expert performance. We enjoyed it so much, in fact, that by the time we were forced to take the long way round to the main stage for headliners Sunn O))), the room was already packed to the rafters.

With the sense of anticipation as thick as the smoke being endlessly pumped throughout the room, we eventually found a little space at the back of the balcony overlooking the stage. When the wall of guitar amps rang out for the first time, you knew it was on. What Sunn O))) deliver is more of a physical experience than a musical one; an incredible, consuming sensation like no other. From the twin guitars of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, a solitary Moog synthesiser, and of course the all-important amplifiers, a constantly evolving and competing set of frequencies filled the ether and violently resonate all the physical objects in the room – most importantly, your body. About halfway into the set, the vocals of Atila Csihar first crept into the mix. Adorned in an outfit made of shards of mirror which sent beams of reflected light from the minimal stage lighting, his screams, whispers and groans added a operatic storytelling feel. Once the waves of bodily vibrations had subsided, the crowd were left both exhausted and exhilarated. 

To Sunday, the holy day, where a good-sized crowd formed for a delayed Pallbearer. Their doom sound, inflected with just enough melody, proved a good choice for main stage warm-up. Meanwhile over at the third stage Voivod, like Triptykon the day before, played a set which displayed the influence they’ve garnered over many years. Their set of thrash and speed metal was a enjoyable palate cleanser against the darker and gloomier sounds on offer over the weekend. Sadly, as Dylan Carlson’s Earth had their set pushed back past the hour mark, we were forced to depart before the drone godheads could bring the weekend to its resounding head.

Temples 2015 was another huge success for a rapidly expanding behemoth of a festival, and some minor niggles with delays couldn’t change that. Well-organised, well-programmed, and with that line-up, the devoted hordes went home fully sated yet baying for more. They’ll come roaring back next year, and for many years to come.

Words: Simon Twine and Julian Smith