Bandcamp After two albums of fuzzed cosmic rock, Cologne’s Smokemaster use their third, In the Temple, to wander. This is psychedelic rock in the widest sense, a band who clearly find one room too small and keep opening doors: heavy psych, dreamy shoegaze, pulsing synth-rock, even melancholic post-punk, all stitched together by a clean, melodic vocal and a refusal to stay put. They cite the obvious touchstones, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Colour Haze, King Gizzard, and the record plays like a trip through all of them.
The first thing you notice, and the thing that carries the album, is how good it sounds. In a month of brickwalled masters, In the Temple breathes. The production is warm and analog, the dynamics left intact, drums recorded like a real kit in a real room, so the soft passages actually feel soft before the band swell back in. The title track is the high point, melodic alt-rock with a woody, natural drum sound and a vocal sitting perfectly in the mix, and “Under the Sun” is the other standout, drifting into atmospheric post-punk with genuine analog warmth and space to roam. When Smokemaster lock a groove and let the effects bloom, this is lovely, immersive stuff.
The wandering is also the catch. Across ten tracks the band roam so far that the record loses a little of its identity, and not every room is as well furnished. “Down in the Salt Mines” is the clearest dip, sterile and programmed-sounding where the rest is warm and live, its polished synth-pop sheen at odds with everything around it. Elsewhere the heavier moments would hit harder with a bit more dirt and bite on the lead guitars, which lean atmospheric where a little aggression would land the payoff, and the low mids occasionally clog up when the arrangements get dense. It is the sound of a band rich in ideas still deciding which ones are theirs.
In the Temple is an adventurous, warmly produced psych record that rewards getting lost in it, and after a run of records fighting their own masters, hearing one that simply breathes is a pleasure. A tighter focus and a touch more grit would turn the sprawl into a statement. As it is, it is a generous, likeable journey from a band with range to spare, even if they have not quite decided where they are going.
In the Temple is wide-ranging psychedelic rock that moves from heavy psych through shoegaze, synth-rock and post-punk, tied together by clean melodic vocals. Its biggest strength is the production: warm, analog and genuinely dynamic, free of the modern brickwall loudness, so the quiet passages breathe before the band swell back in (“In the Temple” and “Under the Sun” are the clearest showcases). The reservations are consistency and focus: “Down in the Salt Mines” sounds sterile and programmed against the otherwise live, warm feel, the distorted lead guitars often stay atmospheric where more bite would help, and the low mids clog slightly in the densest arrangements. An adventurous, immersive record, a little unfocused but a welcome break from over-compressed mixes.
Standout tracks: In the Temple, Under the Sun
