The Skull Defekts - Knives, birds, stones & pyramids

There are two version of The Skull Defekts' new album "The temple". First we have the CD version, an continuation of the "rock" direction exhibited by the band on "Blood spirits & drums are singing". Drums, guitar, vocals and more drums playing riff-oriented jams -- they may not usually concede to typical pop idioms such as verses, chorus and so-on, but it most definitely rocks in solid head-nodding fashion. We also have the 2xLP version of "The temple" which takes all of the the same songs as the CD and augments them with extra interludes, as recently heard on the more electronic/experimental/drone oriented "The drone drug" album. Personally, I prefer the former for it's more concise execution; as much as can appreciate the band's droning tendencies in all guises and forms, it's the rhythm-and-drum heavy sound that gets me going. "Knives, birds, stones & pyramids" is the opening salutation of "The temple" and it lays out everything you need to know: this is pure cult ritual set to a pounding beat and illustrated with cryptic symbols and pagan imagery. Sex and violence, man and beast -- it all comes together. In lesser hands, such other-worldly tourism might come across as preposterous, but they never over-sell it. Even without the message intact, as on the album's instrumentals, it's still all quality head-jammers.