{"id":21475,"date":"2014-03-28T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=21475"},"modified":"2014-09-14T16:57:10","modified_gmt":"2014-09-14T16:57:10","slug":"album-review-temtris-shallow-grave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-temtris-shallow-grave\/","title":{"rendered":"TEMTRIS – Shallow Grave (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEMTRIS
Shallow Grave<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nBattlegod Productions (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Formed initially under the name of Labyrinth in 1999, and then altering the name slightly to Labyrinthia, before finally deciding on the equally mystical Temtris, this female-fronted band from Australia released its debut outing in 2003, under the title of Threshold<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This was followed in 2007 by Masquerade<\/em>, but it\u2019s been another seven years before the release of Shallow Grave<\/em>; an album most certainly worth the weight if you like powerful heavy metal.<\/p>\n

With its creepy cover art, Shallow Grave<\/em> also comes armed with eight songs spearheaded by the stunning, soaring vocal delivery of Genevieve Rodda. This is one talented woman with a set of pipes that could surely summon the dead. And not only that but Temtris is equipped with another vocalist too in guitarist Llew Smith, who brings a contrasting style of deep, grimacing growls which almost toy with Rodda\u2019s silky siren wail.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m rarely enthused by a double vocal attack but this works brilliantly as the pair goes head to head over the crunchy guitar work which is bolstered by Anthony Fox. Coupled with the stormy percussive punishment dished out by Ben Hart and the durable bass trickles and trembles of Adam Wotherspoon, Temtris\u2019 third instalment is one that metal fans need to take note off.<\/p>\n

At times there is a tendency for the quintet to lean towards thrash metal, but the next minute the versatility is displayed with a power metal caress which doubles us with traditional metal arrangements. In fact, so refreshing is this album that on several occasions I\u2019ve stripped it back in my mind and on varying occasions listened to each instrument separately.<\/p>\n

Now, this may make it sound as though Temtris offers up a menu of complex, befuddling metal, but rarely is that the case. In fact, it\u2019s so easy on the ears that one cannot put it down. As the opening cut \u2018Captured\u2019 comes in with a bass plod and demonic growl I\u2019m hooked, and then there is that crisp guitar sound and Hart\u2019s jabbing drum and then boooom, Rodda takes the reins like some bewitching banshee of the night tempting us into that cavern of jewels only to lead us astray into the darkness.<\/p>\n

\u2018Slave To The System\u2019 follows and again the hook is killer and above all crystal clear, so it\u2019s hats off to the production team here and the gallop is one of an unstoppable force. Now, I\u2019m not going to categorise this as old-fashioned metal, but it\u2019s not overtly contemporary either; this is a record that melts together the cold steel splendour of, say, Nevermore with the creaking wizardry of Dio.<\/p>\n

The title track begins in mystical fashion with an orchestral hint and a sparse guitar trickle before Rodda\u2019s voice booms, \u201cThe silent man digs a shallow grave beyond the trees, and in the dirt he buries all his hopes and dreams\u201d<\/em> and we\u2019re in the drama, jarred by the teasing riff as her voice becomes deeper and deeper, only to then angle towards the heavens as a high flying bird. This is spectacular stuff, echoing some of the great female-fronted bands of the 80s, such as Hellion and Chastain, and giving them a run for their money, such is the fiery nature constructed within that tight rhythm section which is built upon that blazing twin guitar attack and Hart\u2019s cascading drums.<\/p>\n

As the album progresses, Rodda goes from strength to strength, resulting in the climatic bonus track \u2018Your Time Has Come\u2019 where she transforms into a truly diabolical beast to work in tandem with those huge riffs and Smith\u2019s occasional barks of fury. Elsewhere, we have a batch of tunes with a foundation of double-bass cracks and gothic riffage, nowhere more evident than on the juggernaut swagger of \u2018The Entity\u2019 and the fantastic slamming architecture of \u2018Darkness Lies\u2019, which builds steadily into a foaming sea of metal mayhem.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t praise this album enough, and it\u2019s a compliment to Llew Smith when I say that his guttural growls do not litter this album too frequently, but when required his injections are most welcome when it comes to cavorting with Genevieve Rodda\u2019s highs. I believe that I should be punished by death for missing out on Temtris\u2019 early records. But then again, by being dumped in with the worms I am sure to miss out on the future delights of this incredible band, so spare me for at least one more outing into the realms of epic heavy metal with lashings of deathly thrash influence.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TEMTRISShallow Grave Battlegod Productions (2014)Rating: 8\/10 Formed initially under the name of Labyrinth in 1999, and then altering the name slightly to Labyrinthia, before finally deciding on the equally mystical Temtris, this female-fronted band from Australia released its debut outing in 2003, under the title of Threshold. This was followed in 2007 by Masquerade, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1409],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-temtris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21475"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21480,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21475\/revisions\/21480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}