The Templars – Deus Vult

Pirates Press Records / Randale Records / Templecomb

 

The lords of the sword are back! Nearly twelve years after the superb “Outremer” CD and a handful of (mainly) split singles and EP’s later, New York City’s finest - The Templars – returned to the battleground with the highly anticipated “Deus Vult” LP! An understatement, I know, especially when the news on a new album already came out in the aftermath of 2015’s split single with Odio Simple. Along with the track off this single – “Living On The Outside” – “Deus Vult” features eleven more, brand new battle hymns for us crusaders – ‘God Wills It’!

 

But despite the anticipation, or just maybe because of it, the first spin of “Deus Vult” was a bit of a disappointment – mainly because of the much appraised and classic ‘Acre-sound’. Classic indeed, but also a bit dated – making new(er) bands that (try to) clone that The Templars-sound, sound much better. Production-wise at least. But as I wrote, this was just the first spin. Because when I accepted the fact that this will always be part of the whole The Templars-sound – whether it’s the mid-90’s, 2017 or the future to come – the rawness of the album grew on me and it grew on me in an extremely rapid pace!

 

Because aside of that classic sound, the lords of the sword also wrote a dozen of hard rockin’ Oi! anthems – bound to remain stuck in your head after a handful of rounds on your turntable. It is praiseworthy that The Templars don’t follow any fads or trends – if anything they started a few – and don’t get caught into anything over-produced, maintaining that raw energy the die-hards love so much. So despite of what I wrote in my previous paragraph, in the end this is how we all wanted “Deus Vult” to sound like – bold, powerful, rough, catchy and The Templars through and through!

 

From the sharp, sometimes shrilling, guitar sound –and solos to the catchy choruses, the smart lyrics and excellent vocals, songs like “Take A Stand”, “A Storm Is Brewing”, “Losing The Game”, “Propaganda”, “Misspent Youth”, “Coers Saignes” and probably my two favorites “Middle Road” and “Kicking Down Your Door” - have it all and are delivered with style and passion. Along with the obscure, mystical movie soundbites used as in –and outro, “Deus Vult” is everything you hoped it would be – occult, scorching, tough as nails – and maybe more! Maybe though, because after waiting for over a decade on a new The Templars full-length it might just be a bit premature to tell, but just like “The Return Of Jacques De Molay”, “Phase II”, “Omne Datum Optimum”, “The Horns Of Hattin”, “Outremer” – and the countless of other, ‘non full-length’ releases, “Deus Vult” is yet another The Templars record you can just listen to over and over... and over again.

 

Therefor there is a good chance that “Deus Vult” will shape into yet another, classic The Templars record – but in the end only time will tell.  Besides the minor ‘startup problems’ that I had with this record – that I might have blown up a bit, altough this album definitely sounds more old school than for example their last two albums... – The Templars absolutely nailed it for me personally. And while I can understand some of the dissent I read and hear online, this is without a doubt one of my favorite releases of 2017, for sure! The Templars rule ok!

 

As a bonus, “Deus Vult” is the first The Templars full-length in nearly two decades that isn’t pressed on a fuckin’ picture disc! Thank Deus...