{"id":20663,"date":"2023-11-12T19:58:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T00:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=20663"},"modified":"2023-11-12T19:58:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T00:58:26","slug":"album-review-twin-temple-god-is-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=20663","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Twin Temple – God Is Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2018, husband and wife duo Alexandra<\/strong> and Zachary James<\/strong> brought their sweet Satanic Doo-Wop sounds to an unsuspecting world of music listeners with their band Twin Temple<\/strong>. Hitting the road with acts such as Graveyard, King Dude, and Ghost, just to name a few, Twin Temple won over a whole slew of people (myself included) with a live show that was unique, fun, and unlike anything I had ever seen.<\/p>\n

After a few years of touring behind their debut album, I wondered if Twin Temple would ever release any new music. While the band seemed more focused on releasing overpriced merchandise for their now (oc)cult following, the fans ate it all up quicker than roasted marshmallows in hell. Aside from the fantastic \u00a02022 single release \u201cLet\u2019s Have a Satanic Orgy,\u201d Twin Temple laid low until 2023 with the release of God Is Dead<\/strong><\/em>. I wondered if Twin Temple would grow from their debut album or would they be another one-trick pony.<\/p>\n

Clocking in at a mere 28 minutes, Twin Temple understands the \u201cless is more\u201d philosophy. Stylistically, the musical direction of\u00a0God Is Dead<\/strong><\/em> isn\u2019t taking us down any new paths. It\u2019s another collection of doo-wop-style rock and roll, but they seem more dialed into the sound this time. They sound confident, and they have definitely mastered the craft of this type of music.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurn Your Bible\u201d is a fantastic song to kick the album off, but it was predictable as it sounded very close to the kickoff song \u201cThe Devil Didn\u2019t Make Me Do It\u201d from their debut. When I got to the fourth track, the \u201cDifferent Drum,\u201d inspired \u201cTwo Sinners,\u201d I felt like I was listening to the debut album all over again. From \u201cBlack Magic\u201d to the end of the eighth and final track, \u201cGod Is Dead,\u201d\u00a0 Twin Temple had lost my attention. As a matter of fact, when the album ended, I didn\u2019t even notice it was over and had kicked over to another album.<\/p>\n

With my thoughts on the material on the album out of the way, let me address the white elephant in the coven: the god-awful production. This was a huge miss. The distorted static sound of the mono records of the \u201850s didn\u2019t translate well at all; honestly, it sounds contrived. God Is Dead<\/strong><\/em> would\u2019ve sounded much better with a warm analog sound. Just because they play doo-wop music, the sound and production don\u2019t have to mimic the original sound of this genre. I had the hardest time going back and listening again to write this review, and it felt even less listenable than the first time.\u00a0 Twin Temple actually released a video for an older song called “Girl Trouble” that was done sometime around 2016\/2017 and that song sounds more like a step forward stylistically and audibly than God Is Dead<\/strong><\/em> does.\u00a0 Maybe they should revisit that song and take some notes from their past selves.<\/p>\n