By Monk
Even in its lighter moments there has always been a darker undercurrent, both metaphorical and physical, intuitive and literal, to the music produced by bands from Finland, who consistently produce a sound that compliments that of their Scandinavian neighbours but simultaneously contradicts and counteracts it, giving it a distinct identity that emphasizes its individuality yet coagulates with a mysterious cohesivness that somehow merges into something collectively unambiguously contradictory and distinctive in its own right.
This self-titled fifth album from Temple Balls is just such an exemplar – on the surface it’s all glitzy, glamorous hair metal revivalism, but, just like the rats which run through the sewers underneath the Helsinki alleyways in which it was gestated, it possesses a densely venomous and contagious bite which infects instantaneously and lingers in your system long after first sinking its fangs deep into your aural cortices.
The real bite is in Arde Teronen’s vocals, which possess an edge that cuts as incisively as a surgeon’s blade yet contains more gravel and grit than a marathon runner’s worn-out trainer soles. One moment he is wrapping you in a silken sheet, the next he is kicking you in the balls before walking away with a wry grin of pleasure on his face.
Temple Balls draw as much on the glunk roots of fellow Finns such as Hanoi Rocks as they do the more glam/hairspray influences of their neighbours on the Scandinavian archipelago, with the likes of Backyard Babies, Crashdïet, Crazy Lixx, Eclipse, H.E.A.T and Pretty Maids being among the most obvious reference points, alongside heavier Eurorock acts such as Gotthard, The Poodles, with a massive nod to Northern Ireland’s own Maverick along the way…
These guys definitely, and defiantly, tick all the right boxes when it comes to delivering glam-infused hairspray soaked melodic hard rock.
- ‘Temple Balls‘ is out now.
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