TWIN TEMPLE

The crossroads, the intersection, the place where the devil makes her deals; it’s there that the fusion of two seemingly divergent forms of magic can erupt into the genesis of something never before witnessed, and it was there that TWIN TEMPLE cast a spell that unleashed a fascinating sonic creature from the depths. Founded in 2016 by partners Alexandra James and Zachary James, TWIN TEMPLE was born out of a destruction ritual on Halloween night, resulting in a unique musical pleasure that we now define as Satanic Doo Wop. “We’re Satanic witches and students of the occult; we have practiced magick and witchcraft for most of our lives. At the same time, we grew up loving vintage rock ‘n roll. Once we realized that we could listen to Roy Orbison and hail Satan at the same time, we were like: ‘this is what we have to do.’”

It was then this magickal child began showing its face in public, performing live shows, and receiving incessant demands from fans to issue a full-length record. “We thought: ‘oh, people want this? Okay, then I guess we need a record,’” laughs Alexandra. The duo booked a studio for a single day in Long Beach, California. “We literally had the engineer press ‘record’ on the tape machine, we played every song twice, chose the better one, and that was the [self-titled] record.” Then accepting an offer to tour with UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS, the pair allowed Rise Above Records to re-issue the originally self-released album. Now in 2022, they’ve made the leap to sign with none other than heavy metal legends: Nuclear Blast Records. “We’re really excited to begin the relationship with Nuclear Blast and be a part of the legacy they’ve built,” explains Zachary. “We love metal, so it’s most evil to be accepted there and have Nuclear Blast take us under their wing. We bond over core beliefs and transcending binaries. Nuclear Blast recognizes that people are ready for different types of music, and different types of Rock and Roll.”

In 2022, TWIN TEMPLE will bring their black mass to arenas across the world on two of their biggest tours to date. In January 2022, they will join GHOST and VOLBEAT on their upcoming tour across America, and in April 2022, they will again join GHOST on their European arena tour with UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS. TWIN TEMPLE will also return to Europe for a run of summer festival dates, including Download, Hellfest and Graspop.

“We just did what we wanted, and everything seemed to follow. It turns out there are a bunch of like minded hellions out there who have open minds, individual tastes, and love vintage music and the devil!” exclaims Alexandra. “It’s been amazing to see the type of fans we attract. Inclusivity is a big thing for us and it’s nice to see so many different types of people at our shows.”

In conjunction with their upcoming USA tour, TWIN TEMPLE will release a new single entitled, Let’s Have A Satanic Orgy. “Who doesn’t want to go to a blood soaked, Satanic orgy?” laughs Alexandra. The single will also include a flip cover in Spanish entitled Tengamos La Orgía Satánica with the lyrics poetically re-worked to fit the beauty of the language. “We love Latin music. It’s an integral part of early Doo-Wop and a huge influence on us. This latest single is us continuing to explore that concept and sound in our own blasphemous way, of course. We chose to have a flip cover for the 7” as opposed to having an A-Side and B-Side, so that the Spanish and English versions are equal. They’ll be released simultaneously as well, to reflect that equality.”

Their newest single also marks a departure from TWIN TEMPLE’s previous ways of working. “Unlike the 24 hour live session with the band,” explains Zachary, “this time we played every instrument ourselves (other than the saxophone) as well as produced, engineered, and mixed the record ourselves. We still kept everything analog and one take to give it a raw feel, but it was just the two of us in the studio together doing everything. It allowed us to expand the sounds and gave us the freedom to add more instrumentation. We always like to stir the cauldron and change things up, and we were excited about challenging ourselves in this evil new way.”

Deviating from the standard path calls for a soundtrack of rebellious music, that which TWIN TEMPLE brilliantly procures with hypnotizing and illustrious melodies. Much like their mood driven, defiant inspirations, Alexandra concludes that “this [music] is about change; tearing down the old guard, and shaking up the status quo, which to us, is Satanic as fuck.” The hellish flames of the temple can be seen burning bright into 2022, with plenty of further news to come.