Heavy Temple has been a force on the Philly metal scene for the better part of the past decade, and but the past two years in particular have found the band working at a higher level than ever. In the music scene’s great re-awakening post-pandemic, the band came out swinging: releasing their expansive debut full-length Lupi Amoris, headlining 2021’s voluminous Live On Front Festival (a huge event in the era of socially-distanced gigs), and finding a rhythm on tour and at local co-bills with their longtime buds Ruby The Hatchet.
Now the band is readying its next step: an as-yet-untitled LP that will drop before the calendar year is out. To give us a taste of what their future holds, the members of Heavy Temple — bassist/vocalist and bandleader High Priestess Nighthawk, along with guitarist Lord Paisley and drummer Baron Lycan — stopped by WXPN studio to rip an intense three-song set of entirely new material.
In this performance, we hear the band’s fusion of thrash technique and doom atmosphere more locked-in than ever. “Sassy” kicks the set off to hollering refrain about being trapped in the hell of someone else’s dream world, then slams into “DP,” a slick and speedy fuzz rock groove calling back to the genre’s roots (the title is shorthand for Deep Purple). The high point is “Jesus,” a seven-minute scorcher packed with breakdowns, solos, and explosive energy.
Watch Heavy Temple’s Key Studio Session below, and see the band tonight at the Out Rage! event at Johnny Brenda’s, a benefit concert supporting the Trans and Queer community in Philly by raising money for William Way Community Center and Galaei. Flatwaves also performs, and tickets and more information can be found here. For more on Heavy Temple, revisit my 2021 interview with High Priestess Nighthawk.