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Shadow Temple Image
Metascore
67

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The album of Eastern-influenced music is the fourth release for the trio from Florida who met at a Hare Krishna commune.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. 74
    It is clear that Prince Rama is a band with aural purpose, and that makes it a welcome swell in an undertow of strangeness in which underground music is presently trapped.
  2. The coolest thing about this mess of orgiastic sound is that it's totally possible to envision it being played live; it feels present, inside your skin, under your muscles, and inside your veins. Shadow Temple is physical music that evokes the spirit world; it rocks, but it soars too; creating a soundtrack for some kind of apocalypse.
  3. Dec 13, 2010
    70
    The most admirable thing Prince Rama does consists in its strangeness. The energy of this album is thrilling, though it's not for everybody.
  4. There aren't many hooks on this record, and the tempo shifts are sometimes subtle, so it can feel overwhelming-- kind of a constant onslaught of sound. This is a taste issue, but if you require a respite now and again, it might be a difficult listen.
  5. Uncut
    Oct 25, 2010
    60
    The resultant music is quite compelling. [Oct 2010, p.101]
  6. Shadow Temple is a very interesting album. But it's also very demanding. It's as if you need a doctorate in Brooklyn Hipster Music Studies to fully appreciate the band's ingenuity. Several tracks amble on interminably, and often they're so dramatic as to add up to a collection of music that feels more like a film score than an album.
  7. All too often Shadow Temple falls short and is flat out boring when it should be actively engaging. It took Rama 14 years to rise to the throne and bring peace and harmony. The band members need to do more than this if they want to if they want to outperform their namesake.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Jan 5, 2011
    8
    This album is so much fun to listen to. It's a mix of psychedelic music and goth-like female vocals. It all comes together in such a hipThis album is so much fun to listen to. It's a mix of psychedelic music and goth-like female vocals. It all comes together in such a hip way. If you like the band Sleigh Bells, you will love this band also - and even moreso because it simply sounds better. Get it. You won't regret it. Expand
  2. Oct 26, 2011
    6
    Back in 2010 Prince Rama were a trio and with a little help from Avey Tare and Deakin of Animal Collective they made a very solid album.Back in 2010 Prince Rama were a trio and with a little help from Avey Tare and Deakin of Animal Collective they made a very solid album. Recorded in a presumably haunted church, Shadow Temple triumphs in creating an atmosphere of ambiguity: these chants give both a feeling of extrication and oppression. The recordâ Expand