Templər’s “Myths and Consequences” Offers No Reprieve, Only Darkness

With the Myths and Consequences LP, it seems the French producer, Thomas Chalandon, has found complete darkness. Chalandon, under the alias Templər, is no stranger to the abrasive, raw mechanisms of sound. His work as a duo alongside Pablo Bozzi (Lapse of Reason) with Imperial Black Unit found the band among the ranks of some of EBM’s heaviest and most-loved music for underground, derelict spaces—even with an unforgettable performance on Boiler Room a couple years ago. Additionally, his Berlin-based label, Area Z, is one of the most exciting for a certain type of dire electronic dance music, boasting EPs from the likes of Chrome Corpse, t_error 404, and Blind Delon.

But Templər is where Chalandon directs the most sincere, dismal forms of rhythmic noise, EBM, and techno. Since his debut EP on X-IMG with his Human Hate EP in 2017, he’s perfected his own noisy, grinding narrative of industrial music. Myths and Consequences, released on June 4th on the German label, HANDS, is not easy—it’s discomforting, harsh, and primitive. The album begins with “Road to Jounieh,” a metallic track, a gravely Sysiphean rhythm that immediately plunges into the dark. Myths and Consequences never comes back up for air.

Each track is foreboding while a tension is built from beginning to end. “Let the Soul Chase the Sorrows” creates a stormy landscape with its squealing sounds, seemingly begging for reprieve, while “Le Crime par la Pensée” offers a moment of forgiveness with a melodic crescendo, rooted heavily in rhythmic noise. With guest vocals from Lapse of Reason, the title track is reminiscent of late 80s or early 90s pulsating, dirty industrial, such as Esplendor Geométrico. It makes sense, then, that the Spanish band remixed Templər alongside other prominent and important producers in the genre. Test Dept, Orphx, Geistform, and Harsh Mentor offer up their own interpretation of the guitar-laden track “A True Terror Corporation (feat. Incendie).” It’s apparent that Chalandon’s influences collide from the choice of remixes that emphasize heavy techno, boisterous noise, and sluggish industrial.

Myths and Consequences is made for moments of cacophony—there’s no in-between here. Listen below:

Buy it on Bandcamp.

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Follow HANDS label on Facebook.