TEMPERANCE
Temperance, the Italians that impressed me last year with their “Amaranthe done right” album, ‘Limitless’, show up once again to wow me in a whole different way. Expecting some perfect for the gym metal, I encountered something I was seeking for what seems like an eternity: a symphonic metal album with enough power to compete with some of the old Nightwish and Epica albums.
First thing to note is how heavy the guitars sound in comparison to what is going on in the scene. I couldn’t stop myself from saying: “Finally!”. It got even better when the extremely well-fit keyboards were added to the scene; it felt like I was looking at this genre with brand new eyes. The mixture of influences is everywhere; in every song you can find all the plugs that can take you back to either the future or the past. It’s revisiting a very happy place with nuances of a hopeful future. A future where there is no fear of using heavier elements in a genre where all bands seem to be heading to a lighter version of themselves.
Temperance are doing the opposite with ‘The Earth Embraces Us All’; it seems that there is no limit in their creativity, wherever it’s coming from. From the folky tune, ‘Unspoken Words’, which will make you get in the forest and go on an adventure, to a more power approach in ‘Revolution’, where Chiara goes from lyrical to a more approachable style of singing in the same song.
If you’ve grown out of symphonic metal, you also have several songs to pick from. With heavier guitars and an overall fast-paced sound, combined with the typical symphonic metal atmosphere, you will be delighted with ‘Haze’, ‘The Restless Ride’ and, last but not least, ‘A Thousand Places’, which starts the album with a great statement of what we can expect; a big array of unexpected “wow, I was exactly looking for that” moments. And, at this point, I only wished it had more growls!
However, at the end of it, you end up feeling like, with this band, you can’t really say they are lacking something when every single time they bring so much to the table. You just have to wait patiently for them to release an album because, at this point, I would be surprised if I don’t get surprised next time around!
First thing to note is how heavy the guitars sound in comparison to what is going on in the scene. I couldn’t stop myself from saying: “Finally!”. It got even better when the extremely well-fit keyboards were added to the scene; it felt like I was looking at this genre with brand new eyes. The mixture of influences is everywhere; in every song you can find all the plugs that can take you back to either the future or the past. It’s revisiting a very happy place with nuances of a hopeful future. A future where there is no fear of using heavier elements in a genre where all bands seem to be heading to a lighter version of themselves.
Temperance are doing the opposite with ‘The Earth Embraces Us All’; it seems that there is no limit in their creativity, wherever it’s coming from. From the folky tune, ‘Unspoken Words’, which will make you get in the forest and go on an adventure, to a more power approach in ‘Revolution’, where Chiara goes from lyrical to a more approachable style of singing in the same song.
If you’ve grown out of symphonic metal, you also have several songs to pick from. With heavier guitars and an overall fast-paced sound, combined with the typical symphonic metal atmosphere, you will be delighted with ‘Haze’, ‘The Restless Ride’ and, last but not least, ‘A Thousand Places’, which starts the album with a great statement of what we can expect; a big array of unexpected “wow, I was exactly looking for that” moments. And, at this point, I only wished it had more growls!
However, at the end of it, you end up feeling like, with this band, you can’t really say they are lacking something when every single time they bring so much to the table. You just have to wait patiently for them to release an album because, at this point, I would be surprised if I don’t get surprised next time around!
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Scarlet Records
Album
THE EARTH EMBRACES US ALL
Review by Salomé Sequeira
RUNNING TIME:
62:06
RELEASE DATE:
16th Sept 2016
TRACK LISTING
1) A Thousand Places
2) At the Edge of Space
3) Unspoken Words
4) Empty Lines
5) Maschere
6) Haze
7) Fragments of Life
8) Revolution
9) Advice from a Caterpillar
10) Change the Rhyme
11) The Restless Ride
2) At the Edge of Space
3) Unspoken Words
4) Empty Lines
5) Maschere
6) Haze
7) Fragments of Life
8) Revolution
9) Advice from a Caterpillar
10) Change the Rhyme
11) The Restless Ride
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Italy
"...a symphonic metal album with enough power to compete with some of the old Nightwish and Epica albums."
