Another piece of Polish heavy artillery, the Black/Death Metal band Temple Of Decay. Proudly presenting its debut full-length through Black Death Production and Godz ov War Productions.
It’s a one man project/band but is capable of creating noise like 10 bands altogether.
Temple of Decay stands as a significant yet enigmatic force within the Polish extreme metal underground. Notable for its searing fusion of Black and Death Metal, the project gained attention for both its atmospheric soundscapes and for being the singular vision of one artist: Mortt. Since its inception in 2019, Temple of Decay has produced a small discography that oozes with themes of darkness, anti-religion, and misanthropy, offering listeners a window into the solitary and rebellious spirit of its creator.
Temple of Decay originated in Tomaszów Lubelski, a small city in southeastern Poland, before establishing a personal axis between Poland and Dublin, Ireland. This geographic duality mirrors the internal contrasts present in the project’s music and themes. Unlike many contemporary acts relying on full band lineups or even cooperative collectives, Temple of Decay is singularly the work of Mortt, who executes all writing, instrumentation, vocals, recording, and production. This one-man-band format is not uncommon in black metal tradition, but Mortt’s approach is not born out of simple convenience, rather, it manifests a philosophical alignment with the project’s intense misanthropy and solitary vision. Mortt established Temple of Decay in 2019, at a time of increasing vibrancy in the Polish Black and Death Metal scene. Drawing on Poland’s history of extreme music but also expressing a highly individualistic aesthetic, Mortt began writing material that would coalesce into the project’s distinctive sound; hostile, atmospheric, and marked by sharp philosophical intent. The project’s debut, an EP entitled ‘Last Manifestation of Life,’ emerged in 2020, quickly heralding Temple of Decay as a name to watch in underground circles.
From its founding through 2025, the project’s line-up has never included additional musicians, live session members, or guest contributors on official releases. Mortt’s marked misanthropy and desire for total creative control underpin this solitary approach, as noted in reviews and interviews, the lack of external input allows Temple of Decay to maintain purity of vision, consistency of message, and a rare unity of production and performance. Mortt is known to maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle, splitting time between Tomaszów Lubelski (Poland) and Dublin (Ireland), at times using both locations as creative bases. All music, lyrics, and recording are credited to Mortt alone, and, aside from graphic work and the project logo, virtually all creative decisions are executed personally.
The album itself – Temple Of Decay’s ‘Rigor Mortis’ album (2022) is a visceral plunge into the depths of Blackened Death Metal. Across European metal circles, from Polish underground zines to German and French metal blogs, and even Russian and Belgian forums, the album has stirred a potent mix of reverence and unease, praised for its uncompromising brutality and bleak atmosphere.
The sonic architecture of ‘Rigor Mortis’ is built on a foundation of raw, cavernous riffs and relentless blast beats, evoking comparisons to early Behemoth and Angelcorpse, yet with a more suffocating, lo-fi aesthetic that recalls the claustrophobic production of bands like Teitanblood or Revenge.
We can highlight the album’s uncanny ritualistic pacing and rotten decaying textures, the deliberately murky mix enhances the sense of dread rather than detracts from the musicality.
Lyrically, this ‘Rigor Mortis’ explores the well-known themes of death, spiritual rot, and metaphysical torment. Though the vocals are often buried beneath layers of distortion, their guttural delivery and occasional Latin phrases lend a ceremonial weight, I’d call it a nihilistic sermon with its semi-religious atmosphere.
A track like ‘Putrescence Enthroned’ is noteworthy for its shifting tempos and eerie ambient interlude that breaks the otherwise relentless assault and a fine example of the album’s ability to balance chaos with structure.
And believe me , with those harsh shouted vocals and eerie structures, chaos reigns supreme on this album.
Ultimately, ‘Rigor Mortis’ is not an album for casual listeners but more for borderliners and other unadjusted maniacs. It demands immersion, patience, and a tolerance for sonic abrasion. But for those willing to descend into its cryptic depths, it offers a harrowing yet strangely meditative experience, one that resonates across linguistic and cultural boundaries, from Warsaw to Ghent, Berlin to Moscow. It’s a testament to the enduring power of extreme music to evoke the ineffable, and to the singular vision of its creator, who has turned decay into a form of transcendence. And note the splintered ‘Leave me in Hell’ cover version from Venom as a testimony to its crazy brilliance.
I cannot but give it 2 thumbs up and well-deserved maximum score. And you really need to check out this masterpiece of Polish bile.
