Temple of Brutality - LETHAL AGENDA?

Anyone heard Temple of Brutality - Lethal Agenda? I guess it's what Dave Ellefson is doing. I looked at a few sites I trust (The Metal Observer and Chronicles of Chaos) and neither had even reviewed it, which makes me think it must be NWOAHM or something.

ack

I heard a track off it. It seemed pretty decent thrash style stuff.

Haven't heard it yet.

it's just modern post thrash stuff.

mc666 wrote:

it's just modern post thrash stuff.

Yuk!

ack

I thought it was boring... sounded like the usual Pantera worship, topped off by vocals that sounded like Popeye with his nuts caught in a vice. Delete, ignore, destroy!

Yeah, I actually got the idea to ask based on your trade list, Freddy. Too bad. There is already enough crap music around for a legend like Ellefson to try to cash in on that whole bucket o garbage. Pathetic.

ack

yeah its mega Pantera worship. Horrible stuff though!!

Isn't Ellefson also in a power metal band nowadays? Avian or something - anyone know whether it's any good?

AchrisK wrote:

Yeah, I actually got the idea to ask based on your trade list, Freddy. Too bad. There is already enough crap music around for a legend like Ellefson to try to cash in on that whole bucket o garbage. Pathetic.

ack

Really? In that case, um, well, Temple of Brutality is a GREAT disc. Really, really, REALLY great. Fantastic album. Forget what I said earlier. I was obviously thinking of some other band.

Mmmm, nah, obviously I'm lying, it sucked BIG time....

Smindas wrote:

Isn't Ellefson also in a power metal band nowadays? Avian or something - anyone know whether it's any good?

Yes, he plays on the debut from Avian. I can't think of the name of the CD off the top of my head, I've heard a few MP3s on the band's site and they were quite good. I think he was strictly a studio-only member with that band, though, he hasn't done any shows with'em.

Dave's also in another band called "F5" who are supposedly radio-friendly modern rock, never heard them though.

I guess he's gotta pay the bills just like the rest of us. At least he's keeping busy.

Quote :

I guess he's gotta pay the bills just like the rest of us. At least he's keeping busy.

If that's the case, he'd better kiss and make up with Mustaine, 'cause it doesn't look like he's gonna make any scratch with his current crop of bands he's been whoring himself out to.

I heard a few F5 songs a while back. They're actually quite good if you're into radio-friendly rock.

Here's what I had to say about Temple Of Brutality when I reviewed it for Detritus e-zine:

Moving on to heavier things, we have LETHAL AGENDA by Temple of Brutality (Demolition Records), a self described "Pure F**king Metal!!!" band that features former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson and one time W.A.S.P. drummer Stet Howland in its lineup. The album art is festooned with pictures of American flag-draped coffins, barbed wire and a shot of a run-down looking White House behind a padlocked fence, so I’d say it’s safe to assume these guys aren’t big fans of the U.S. government. Sadly, the packaging is probably the best thing about this disc, as Temple Of Brutality (original name huh?) turned out to be an extremely average aggro-metal band. The flat, muddy production falls far short of the "kick-you-in-the-face" vibe that the band was probably hoping for, and the phleghm-soaked vocals of Todd Barnes got on my nerves VERY quickly. This guy sounds like Popeye with his nuts caught in a vise. By about the fifth or sixth track, listening to him yowling in his cartoonish, one-note voice over the top of these generic Pantera worshipping tunes became pretty comical. LETHAL AGENDA was a 24 karat disappointment (especially considering that there were several all-stars on board) and I doubt that it will be darkening my CD player ever again once this column is written! As for Dave Ellefson, I hope for his sake that he was brought into this project as a special guest and that he’s not planning on making Temple of Brutality his full time gig…

Good review.

ack

Here is the review I wrote for this CD. I'm not sure it will ever see light of day though as I don't post reviews of CDs that I don't keep.

Temple of Brutality - Lethal Agenda (Demolition) 2005

1. "Lethal Agenda" (4:03)
2. "Hammer" (2:55)
3. "Already Dead" (4:56)
4. "Doesn't Matter" (3:22)
5. "Hate Machine" (2:41)
6. "Isabel" (3:47)
7. "Beating the Man" (3:41)
8. "Built to Last" (3:29)
9. "Interlude" (:50)
10. "The Art of War" (3:58)

Temple of Brutality is a band made up of some impressive names including bassist Dave Ellefson (Megadeth/F5), drummer Stet Howland (WASP), and guitarist Peter Scheithauer (Killing Machine), together with vocalist Todd Barnes. The band seem to be labeled as traditional thrash on the few metal sites I could find them on. What they are, however, are a mixture of styles with a much more modern sound than what I would describe as "traditional thrash metal". The band mixes together groove style riffs and mid-to-fast paced song writing and some classic heavy metal and thrash riffs and soloing to create a sound that is modern, yet doesn't sound like the current crop of metalcore or modern rock bands either. Frankly, there's an overtone of Pantera running throughout this album. I could almost imagine Phil Anselmo bellowing over some of these tracks. However, vocalist Todd Barnes doesn't sound like a Phil Anselmo. Barmes has a raspy, gargly delivery that is quite one dimensional. He mostly just raps or screams with limited range and doesn't really add much in the way of hook or memorability. This is especially true on "Already Dead" where he spits out the lyrics rap style in rapid fire succession. Additionally, the angry-at-the-world lyrics get really old. I'm a bit tired of hearing modern bands yell at me because their lives suck. As well, I found some of the guitar solos, such as that in "Isabel", to sound out of place, or perhaps out of key. Not being a guitarist myself, it's hard for me to say for sure that the solo is out of key, but something just doesn't jive. However, some of the rhythm work is stellar. Check out the tight riffing in closing track, "The Art of War". Had there been a fast double bass beat behind this machine gun riffing, this would have been one incredible thrash tune. Also, the song "Hammer" has an infectious groove that would have been enhanced with a bit more vocal range. Overall, I guess I was expecting much more from this band and from a project featuring Dave Ellefson.

All 3 cds were ok in my book, he also did a album with a band called The Alien Blank since Megadeth. T.A.B. was founded by guitarist Joshua Podolsky, and also features Graig Nielsen of Flotsom & Jetsom.-TJ

Black Lotus Records

ultmetal wrote:

Barmes has a raspy, gargly delivery that is quite one dimensional. He mostly just raps or screams with limited range and doesn't really add much in the way of hook or memorability.

Glad I'm not the only one who felt this way about the vocals. By the fourth or fifth track they reeeeeeaaaaaaallly were starting to grate on me.

Sorry it wasn't your cup o'java Ult!

Hmmm, I feel like i'm the only one that loved this album.

Got this coming from lala. Happened upon it on someone's have list. He's sending me another CD, had only like 7 haves and this was one of them. I listened to the clips, thought it sounded cool, requested it, and now he's shipping it.

I didn't know Ellefson was in the band; nor that half the board dislikes the CD. Hahaha. I hope I have a different opinion, else I may cry a little.

Chairman_Smith wrote:

Hmmm, I feel like i'm the only one that loved this album.

Nope. I just bought it and am enjoying it. I do agree that the vocals and production suck. It's like a dynamic range score of one.