Review by Dominik on March 25, 2025.

Italy, the country where Mama is always right, pasta is a religion, traffic rules are just suggestions, everyone has a cousin who can "fix it" and corpse paint is a fashion. From the beautiful Italian city of Parma, where cheese snobbery is real, hails Tulpa—a band that's equally devoted to blending black metal and crust. Sometimes they lean toward one side, sometimes the other, but on Temple Of Wounds, their latest release, the two styles intertwine without stepping on each other's toes. The title track, for instance, is more of a straight-up black metal affair that wouldn't feel out of place on a harsher Winterfylleth album—and since I'm a fan of all three (black metal, crust, and Winterfylleth), it's no surprise this record resonates quite well with me.

Let me get the ugly truth out of the way first: this album, much like your uncle after too much grappa, starts strong but stumbles toward the end. The final stretch, especially "Zerotonin" and the drawn-out instrumental closer, feels more like the band is treading water than setting the world on fire. Both songs could have used a shot of adrenaline or at least a ruthless editor. But before you reach that point, Tulpa delivers a solid 30 minutes of material that's more than worth your time.

Tulpa's approach becomes immediately crystal clear, when, after a brief intro (because it wouldn't be black metal without a brooding appetizer), "Healing" kicks the door down with no intention of wiping its boots and explodes with a mix of scathing black metal and d-beat aggression. The band shifts between these styles with ease, never sounding forced or stitched together. Genre mashups can go wrong faster than you can say "artistic experiment", but Tulpa pulls it off by keeping things sharp and cohesive. This isn't some patchwork monster of discarded riffs—the songwriting feels deliberate, thoroughly planned, and well-executed. The vocalist, who also handles guitar duties, delivers a feral mix of blackened shrieks and deeper "crusty" growls that wouldn't be out of place on recent releases from Adrestia or Fredag den 13:e.

The album's title track stands out as an early highlight. It opens with a deceptively calm introduction, and quickly evolves into a full-blown black metal assault, showcasing the album's strongest Winterfylleth influence. From the intertwining guitar melodies to the relentless vocal delivery, it could easily pass as a bonus track from "The Imperious Horizon". It may drag a little toward the end, but the intensity makes up for it. In contrast, "No One Wins" shifts gears by more embracing the crust side of things—mid-tempo grooves and vocals that perfectly capture the genre's punchy, no-frills attitude.

If you need more proof that Tulpa can handle both styles without dropping the ball, look no further than "Syskäathr". This song is a short, vicious blast that feels like a sonic gut punch. It's direct, uncompromising, and a reminder that the band is at their best when they keep things tight and aggressive. Unfortunately, the creative spark fades after this point and the album begins to sag under its own weight. Even "Buried In An Hourglass," which briefly teases post-black metal influences with an interesting intensive mid-section, eventually loses focus and limps toward an uninspired fade-out. It feels like the band gave up and let gravity finish the job. It's not a catastrophic failure, but the album's back half definitely lacks the fire of its opening.

Despite these hiccups, Temple Of Wounds remains an album worth your time. Tulpa balances black metal's icy malevolence with crust's feral urgency, and when they get it right, the results are both punishing and oddly elegant. It's not flawless—more like a beautifully cracked mirror—but if you're willing to forgive a few missteps, and you like your black metal with a side of crust, this one's worth a spin.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10, because even when Italians stumble, they fall with style.