Temtris – Ritual Warfare
Temtris – Ritual Warfare
WormHoleDeath
Release Date: 30/04/2021
Running Time: 48:45
Review by Simon Black
7/10
The sixth album from the Australian Metallers opens with a thundering drum line that really whets the appetite for what follows, which is eight tracks of traditional styled Heavy Metal, with just a teensy-weensy hint of Thrash. Temtris have been at this a while so have that heavy guitar delivery down pat, with the solid alternating sparring rhythm and lead split that NWOBHM made so widely popular, although the rest of the time you wouldn’t necessarily spot that there were two guitars in the mix. When this distinction comes clear, my word these boys can fly and I wonder why they’ve chosen to indistinguishably synch their playing everywhere else, as the technical ferocity on display when these instruments open up is little short of formidable.
Song-writing wise there is some great structure and incredibly catchy but punchy delivery, although I struggle somewhat with the vocal phrasing through some of this. I wonder if Genevieve Rodda plays drums, because she follows the rhythm riff melody so meticulously throughout – rather than extending and varying it (much like early thrash singers tended to do as so much of their attention was focussed on the guitar round their necks). This is a bit of a shame, as it feels like she is playing catch up with the instruments rather than leading from the front with more complimentary melody lines even though she clearly has a very good range and a really powerful vocal delivery. That said, in places that gutsy delivery works really well, creating a relentlessly heavy rhythmic and hypnotic effect that pulls you in. What’s missing is variety, although we get snatches of it in moments when the pace mellows out – such as the halfway point in ‘Seven Sins Of Man’. This is one of the longer tracks on the album, so gets to play about with the format more than most and is much the stronger for it by a country mile. Again, when Rodda does lead from the front, such as in the relentless ‘Forever’ or the introduction to the title track, her sustained and soaring vocal delivery is little short of spectacular, gives Rob Halford a run for his money and leaves me wishing that she had opened up a bit more elsewhere.
If I was going to pick a word to summarise this album I would perhaps choose ‘restrained’. They lift the lid on their technical skill at moments, but this doesn’t feels like a band that’s hungry consistently throughout. That said, what it misses in consistency of performance, more than makes up with song-writing and the anger lyrically is palpable and picked up and carried by the rest of the band. Solid stuff, which maybe just needed a touch more pre-production before hitting the studio – although like so many bands at the moment, this is probably just a consequence of the lockdown writing process. Nevertheless, absolutely worth some of your valuable time to listen to.
‘Ritual Warfare’ (Lyric Video)
TRACKLISTING:
01. Race To The End
02. One For All
03. Seven Sins Of Man
04. Forever
05. Ritual Warfare
06. Tempus Aeturnum
07. Erased
08. Always United
LINE-UP:
Genevieve Rodda – Vocals
Anthony Fox – Guitar
Nik Wilks – Bass
Nicholas Bolan – Drums
Nadi Norouzian – Guitar
LINKS:
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