Album review : TEMPLE BALLS – s/t

February 8th, 2026 by brianmc

Frontiers Music [Release date : 13.02.26]

Some of us have lived a sheltered life. Apparently “temple balls” are “one of the oldest varieties of medical marijuana”. Not a lot of people know that.

And so a self titled release at this stage of the band’s career, normally something that indicates a re-appraisal of style, of content, of attitude, and so forth, made it all make sense.

If that’s the case here, the difference between this and previous albums is subtle. If churning out massive guitar crunch and tough but buoyant melodies, from the wham-bam-thankyou-mam opener, ‘Flashback Dynamite’ to the sinister, bass-heavy rhythms, of closer ‘Living In A Nightmare’ could be considered a re-assessment, then well done guys, you nailed it.

The song titles too are something of a giveaway as to where the the band is now, ‘Lethal Force’, ‘Hellbound’, ‘Chasing The Madness’, to name but three.

Album standout, ‘Tokyo Love’, a splendid slab of pumping, high octane music, comes early, with the band sounding like they’ve been mainlining an uninhibited mix of hard rock and heavy metal.

Close behind, there are several immediate, love-at-first-sight songs here – like ‘Soul Survivor’ and ‘There Will be Blood’. To the extent that in time, a heart thumping anticipation precedes each listen.

Yet, the ones that take time to insinuate their way into your subconscious – like ‘Stronger Than Fire’ and ‘We Are The Night’ – often turn out to be the ones that live on the longest.

The PR people will always tell us that this is the band’s “best album yet”, it’s their role in life.

This time the hype is right. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 26 January 2026

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR Hell Or High Water (Journeyman Records)
TY FREEMAN One Way Love (indie)
GREY DAZE Monster You Adore (indie)
HOKKA Death By Cupids Arrow (Nuclear Blast Records)
PURPLE DOTS Stared At The Sun (Kycker)
SAINT AGNES Song For Mia (Spinefarm)
STREETLIGHT Shake That Feeling (Frontiers)

Featured Albums w/c 26 January 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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