Album review: Temple Balls “Pyromide”
Finnish rockers Temple Balls’ third album gives us melodic hard rock with balls.
Temple Balls is a melodic hard rock band from Finland. “Pyromide” is the band’s third full-length studio album since they debuted in 2017. The new album has been produced by H.E.A.T’s Jona Tee and we can certainly hear some echoes of the Swedish rockers’ melodies here. Like many of their fellow Nordic hard rock bands, Temple Balls is a band that has strong and catchy melodies. In “Pyromide”, Temple Balls – Arde Teronen on vocals, Jimi Välikangas on bass, Jiri Paavonaho and Niko Vuorela on guitars and Antti Hissa on drums – has put together a solid album. Compared to many other Nordic melodic hard rock bands, Temple Balls has a bit more grit and dirt to its music. It’s punchy. The music is somewhat less polished and that, boys and girls, is no bad thing. Squeaky clean can be very boring. The music isn’t exactly dangerous, but Temple Balls is a band with a certain attitude and they have the songs and skills to back that up. It’s like a Finnish Def Leppard with balls. The album is even and without any major dips. Standout tracks for me are “Thunder From The North”, “Long Ways, Log Lies”, “Bad, Bad, Bad”, “Unholy Night” (because of its fantastic guitar work), “You Better Run” and “Something To Die For”. Of course, there is also the obligatory power ballad, “If Only I Could”. The Japanese edition of the album comes with a bonus track in the form of an acoustic version of “You Better Run”. Temple Balls is a good band. Finland is a hard rock and heavy metal super power – across both extreme and melodic subgenres – and Temple Balls is a band that helps to support that position.
Temple Balls’ new album “Pyromide” is out now via Ward Records in Japan and Frontiers Music internationally.
