Wormholedeath Records
March 17
Words by Kris Peters
Despite having this album in my possession for a number of weeks I have resisted the growing temptation to have a quick listen so that I could enter this review fresh and uninfluenced.
Sydney metal outfit Temtris are no strangers to the Australian metal scene, having released six previous albums, but as is always typical of me I am arriving late to the party and as such have only really heard the two singles taken from the band’s seventh album Khaos Divine.
Those two – the title track and Eternal Death Machine – were both absolute bangers, hence my successful internal battle to refrain from treating myself to an early listen of the full album.
Khaos Divine is a bold leap forward for Temtris which sees them enter the conceptual world, telling a tale that explores a dark and dystopian city controlled by a new world order.
Sound intriguing? Let’s find out.
Opening with The Grand Design amid a swirling, almost screeching musical score it doesn’t take long for the guitars to kick in before the rest of the team join in, with one exception.
In the lead-up to this release much focus has been placed on vocalist Genevieve Rodda and her powerful voice that are set to steer Khaos Divine into a vocally driven place of mystery and wonderment but The Grand Design reveals nothing.
Instead, it is a sweeping instrumental number that lays the sonic platform for a bleak and desolate landscape befitting the subject matter.
First blood to you Temtris!
The title track soon kicks things into gear with a thunderous intro of double kicks and vicious guitar that harks back to the glory days of thrash.
Then Rodda decides to enter the fray and holy snapping duckshit does she do so in style!
With a soaring, symphonic opening salvo Rodda elevates the music from wicked thrash metal into something closer to resembling power metal laced with enough thrash to keep even the purists happy.
I am loathe to ever compare female vocalists to their male counterparts but the closest I can come to here is a very Bruce Dickinson style of delivery – which is one of the highest compliments a person could give.
Guitarists Anthony Fox and Nadi Norouzian feed off each other beautifully and in tandem while bass player Vane Danov keeps his side of the fence tight and unrelenting, all the while held together by the frenetic and powerful drumming of Nicholas Bolin.
But so far this is Rodda’s show as she hits notes most people find unattainable, in the process introducing the concept and setting things up for the carnage to follow.
Eternal Death Machine swirls to life and once more I find my head involuntarily bashing along to the beat. To say this is a guitar-driven album so far would be 100% correct, but also not entirely fair to everything else going on around them.
Even though I have heard these two – and only these two – tracks before it is only when listened to together in the context they were meant for on the album that the full impact resonates.
Already I find myself hating whatever machine Temtris are taking aim at, and I am yet to fully comprehend whether they are even the good guys or bad…
A nice breakdown followed by a wicked drum fill leads into a guitar solo about mid way through the track and even at this early juncture the respect each of these musicians has for the other is obvious.
Rather than competing in any way, they instead pull back at the right times to allow their fellow bandmates the space and room to breathe.
Very important, but also very rare.
Dreams Or Reality poses an intriguing question that lingers only momentarily before a rapid-fire guitar run shifts focus and invites Rodda once more into battle.
Unlike many singers who possess such a vocal range, Rodda uses hers more for emphasis rather than as a continuous statement, highlighting the fact that she CAN sing more than repeated elongated high notes ever could.
She barks her way through portions of this track, highlighting the urgency in the storyline which is obviously now being waged in a life or death battle.
Judging by the ebb and flow of this track the war is still very much in the balance, so it is with a little trepidation that I prepare for The Lies Become The Truth.
That is soon dispelled by an almost militant opening that coaxes Rodda into the frontline with a more reserved and deliberate vocal structure that accentuates the growing urgency of the war raging within the concept.
Small but significant guitar licks punctuate the darkness at varying junctures, shifting the focus momentarily and providing a welcome distraction from the question being posed by Rodda.
Bolin comes into his own on this track, laying down a stuttering drum pattern that continues the militant feel of the song while Fox and Norouzian alternate ferocity with their guitar play that only serve to maximise the feeling of impending doom before a ferocious finale that is pacified only by Rodda soaring voice trailing into nothingness.
It seems like we are at a crossroad with The Path with its stripped-back, almost peaceful delivery hinting at a welcome break in hostilities.
But Temtris are having none of that and from the moment Rodda raises her voice in protest the guitars come screaming back to life and once more threaten to overthrow the establishment.
This is a much more measured track but is strangely better for it. After all wars are not all guns and killing. Even soldiers have to sleep, right?
Around the four-minute mark the sleeping soldiers awaken, and the guitars herald the start of a fresh round of torment that quickly subsides as the ambiance once more settles in. The feel of this track is infectious, at one point offering an easing of tension and at others a call to arms.
And I still have no idea who is winning the war.
Revenge is a song I can sink my teeth into, and it seems Temtris have the same idea as a powerful drum fill fills the air, ushering in dualling guitars that only seem to spur Bolin into greater action as the double kicks intensify and coax Rodda out of the shadows once more.
The layered vocals on this track provide welcome respite, almost questioning themselves with their contrasting emotion.
Rodda is in fine form here, utilizing several different vocal ranges while still controlling the tempo of the song. Another round of guitar solos further enhances the message of Revenge as the growing intensity of the vocals suggest a turning of the conceptual battle that is definitely falling the way of the unseen heroine.
Evolution Of Hate breathes fire courtesy of a wicked guitar intro that soon finds Bolin racing to keep up – which, of course, he does.
The two guitars go at each other violently here before calling a truce to allow Rodda room to move.
Her vocals take another turn here, taking on more of a scorned rock outlook that is no less impressive than anything delivered earlier.
The guitars speed up once more, intent on hastening the outcome of Khaos Divine but not before Rodda assesses the potential outcomes vocally.
Once more the tempo shifts up several gears before Fox decides he has had enough of playing by the rules and breaks off into a solo of his own that adds even more depth and meaning to an already engrossing landscape.
These sporadic interjections continue to the end of the track, making this my personal pick of a difficult to separate bunch of tunes.
Foreboding piano fills the air as final track Ground Zero gathers momentum in a sweepingly alluring initial passage that threatens to erupt at any moment. Not that I’m sure I really want it to.
But, of course, it does and does so in devastating fashion.
Now resembling more of a 1980s thrash number, Ground Zero has a renewed urgency that is offset by an angry, yet seemingly more content vocal delivery from Rodda as she once more assumes the role of musical narrator.
If there is one track on Khaos Divine I would suggest you listen to in order to get an informed glimpse of what to expect from the whole album then this would be it, but that would also be almost selling Khaos Divine short.
It is not an album that can be condensed to one song or example. It is more of a musical journey through a myriad of sonic emotions that tells more than a story of dystopian struggle.
It outlines the musical journey undertaken by Temtris to this point of their career while hinting strongly at the many and varied directions the band is yet to explore.
Sign me up.
Pre-Order Khaos Divine here: https://orcd.co/khaosdivinepreorder
