Temple of Void. Never mind that they’re from Detroit Rock City. That emblem died ages ago. What you should mind, if you’re of the old-school death metal type–Asphyx, old Amorphis, Autopsy, Paradise Lost, etc.–is that the Michiganders may just be the best one of the best death metal outfits from the states. With three full-lengths under their respective belts, Temple of Void have gone from regional curio to nationwide…no, global killers. What started on Of Terror and the Supernatural (2014), was refined on Lords of Death (2017), but has been mastered on The World That Was (2020). Yes, Temple of Void demand your attention, and they will get it with the release of the “Self-Schism” video, premiering at Decibel Magazine, where death metal diehards live and breathe the stench of death daily.
Say Temple of Void: “The song is about literally cutting yourself in two pieces from your head down. We chose to represent that in a more metaphorical manor with the video. Additionally, we drew in elements from OTATS (the hooded figure) as well as the Tibetan Singling Bowl we used on “Graven Desires” from LORDS OF DEATH. So it’s interesting from that perspective b/c it draws on past and ties it together. There’s a lot of continuity to our creative output and our identity builds its own loose narrative that’s still very much open to interpretation. The locations were 1) our practice space (Jason’s house) and 2) the woods behind my house. One dude. One camera. And one cold, snowy day in Detroit. We were inspired by classic ’90s lo-budget metal videos. The kind of ilk you would see on Headbanger’s Ball or Noisy Mothers. But we didn’t want to employ any fake techniques to make it feel like a pastiche. We took the classic inspiration and did our own thing with it. The video gets cooler and more trippy as the song develops. It’s cool to see how it all unwinds. The setting winter sun gave us this very cold, grim, Evil Dead kind of vibe for the shoot. It all came together in the end and we couldn’t be happier to premiere it with the world today!”
