There are occasions you come across a band that are so busy worshiping other music they are incapable of breaking out of the mould created by that band. Composed in the midst of a shrine to Graveland, Woodtemple’s fifth studio album Forgotten Pride (Sacrilige) is yet another copy of the band with one vital difference; it contains Rob Darken himself. Far from bringing another dynamic to the band though, Darken’s input serves to make Forgotten Pride even more Graveland-esque than the previous releases.
Despite the addition of Darken, the album lacks the rich density that calls his fan back time after time. While the music itself holds its own, with layers upon layers of keyboard voices make up the vast majority of the tracks and Aramath’s croaked vocals rattling over the top, the lack of variety between tracks quickly turns this into a metal by numbers exercise. Each track moves through a variation of the setup, with so few changes between tracks it can be hard to tell one piece from the next. Coupled with an overly clean production that erases any rawness or grit from the backing, leaving the vocals as the only aspect anchoring it in the black metal genre and the music taking a stance more firmly at the heart of symphonic folk.
Love or hate the genre, the lack of the music individual identity leaves this album trailing behind the style it attempts to copy. Fans of Aramath may still find some merit in this record, but for the casual Woodtemple listener this far from their best work.
3.0/10
CAITLIN SMITH