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Temples on Mars - Vondelpark Single Review

28 Jul 2011 // A review by terry666

Agent's newest single Vondelpark

Agent was formed in 2003 in Taranaki and were a huge part of local live scene. They were regulars in Palmerston North, with myself witnessing several of their shows. Unfortunately for us in 2008 they moved to London to take on the world.

Vondelpark was recorded in the London studio of Paul Matthews, a kiwi producer and currently the bass player of I Am Giant. This studio is where they are recording their second album and Vondelpark is one of the singles to be released before the album comes out.

They describe their music as “Heavy rock with a progressive spin”. They also quote Tool, Karnivool and Muse as some of their influences and that is very apparent in this release. I didn’t hear their first album but from what I saw of them in their live show they always tried to make every song epic in this still seems to be the case. These guys are extremely talented musicians who know what they are doing when it comes to songwriting.

The song starts off with a nice slow build up for the first minute at this point a nice chunky riff starts to stir the senses and it’s not until two minutes before there are vocals but you aren’t left bored or too anxious as it has just the right pace to keep you interested. It’s roughly three and a half minutes before there’s a chorus but it’s a ride worth taking. About a minute later it slows down again ready to take you on the tsunami wave that is Vondelpark.

Coming in at seven and a half minutes Agent shows they still have the gift of crafting epic songs. There are a lot of the Tool sounding atmospheric sounds in the quite moments which sound great. This is a beast of a song.

This is a great single and if this is any sign of what the album's going to be like it’s going to be a cracker. Check it out as a free download here on muzic.net.nz and also on their Facebook along with a few of their other tracks.

 

About Temples on Mars

Temples on Mars is a London based progressive rock band. Originally formed in New Zealand (NZ) under the name Agent, the band relocated to London in 2008. Featuring James Donaldson on vocals and guitar, Daz Carikas on bass, Gerald Gill on guitars, and Dean Gibb on drums, Temples on Mars produces accessible, progressive tinged, rock music.

To date, Temples on Mars have headlined their own NZ tours and UK shows, featured at UK Rock festivals, released two EP’s, plus two full length albums: Expand/Contract which was given 5/5 stars by NZ’s leading music magazine Rip It Up and NZ Musician magazine, making a name for them in their native NZ, and their second album Kingdom of Fear, which created a buzz in the prog-rock scene in the UK and Europe earning the band a 2014 UK progressive music award nomination.

After relocating to London, Temples on Mars quickly became regulars on the live music scene and have shared the stage with numerous UK bands including Skindred, Devil Sold His Soul, Black Peaks, InMe and I Am Giant to name a few. Temples on Mars subsequently teamed up with long time friend and producer Paul Matthews of I Am Giant fame (whose production credits also include OpShop, Blindspott, Stylus and Six60). With Matthews, Temples on Mars began work on their second full length album Kingdom of Fear which was released world wide in December 2013. Kingdom of Fear was mastered by Tom Coyne (Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus, I Am Giant) of Sterling Sound in New York.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Temples on Mars

Releases

Temples On Mars
Year: 2018
Type: Album
Kingdom Of Fear
Year: 2013
Type: Album
Expand / Contract
Year: 2006
Type: Album
The Pheng Nom Shakedown
Year: 2003
Type: EP

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