Temtris is a female-fronted heavy metal band from Australia formed in 1999 by singer Gen Rodda and guitarist Anthony Fox, releasing seven albums across the band’s twenty-five-year career – with the most recent five emerging across an incredibly prolific nine-year period! The band’s full album history is ‘Threshold’ (2003), ‘Masquerade’ (2007), ‘Shallow Grave’ (2014), ‘Enter The Asylum’ (2016), ‘Rapture’ (2018), ‘Ritual Warfare’ (2021), and ‘Khaos Divine’, released in 2023…
…just two years after the sensationally fierce ‘Ritual Warfare’. Temtris – the wonder from down under – are led by the Aussie metal queen Gen and her consort the fantastic Mister Fox! The crew are completed by Nicholas Bolin (drums), Vane Danov (bass), and Nadi Norouzian (guitar), with the band’s new album ‘Khaos Divine’ a fifty-minute feast of “foot on the monitor” heavy metal. The band have grown in stature over recent years, touring across Australia, headlining New Zealand’s 2020 Smashfest festival, and supporting bands such as Girlschool, Loudness, Metal Church, Raven, and Stryper’s Michael Sweet! And with the new album just released, Temtris will head out on the Australian “Khaos Divine” tour.
But right now, let’s get into the band’s new album ‘Khaos Divine’ – a concept album which, explains the band, “plunges the listener into a tale of a dark and troubled dystopian city where a new world order has taken hold of its population with the offer of a chance to live an almost eternal life but at the cost of freedom”. And as the band go on to explain “the album is a musical journey of salvation, betrayal, and the loss of all hope”. So let’s embark on this journey and see – or rather hear – how it unfolds…
…‘Khaos Divine’ comes to life with the two-minute instrumental ‘The Grand Design’ – a tension fuelled feast of sprightly heavy metal guaranteed to move listeners to the very edge of their seats in high anticipation of what’s to come next! The title song, ‘Khaos Divine’ that’s what! Fiery and fierce, Temtris batter listeners with an opening metal monolith, full of menace and attitude, along with the trademark soaring vocals of powerhouse lead singer Gen. And just going back to ‘The Grand Design’ for a moment – what an intro that’s going to make in a live arena. Methinks Temtris may have written it with a concert opener in mind – I do hope so, for ‘The Grand Design’ is perfect to get an audience ready. Ready for ‘Khaos Divine’ (the song) – and a pummelling that gives as much pleasure as a Madame in a BDSM establishment! For those of that persuasion – definitely not me! Good God, no!
And with an incredible upturn in intensity, menace, pace and power, the band hurtle into ‘Eternal Death Machine’ – adopting a more mid-tempo heavy hitting foot stomp. Switching gears as ‘Eternal Death Machine’ roars on, Temtris deliver a rich head bang ability that every metalhead and mosh pit from here to Sydney and back will respond to with neck-breaking enthusiasm! A phenomenal opening one-two, the band make it a one-two-three with the blistering ‘Dreams Or Reality’ – scorching the Earth as it hurtles forth with one foot firmly planted on the monitor! Temtris are as reliable as bands such as Rage, Iron Savior, and Saxon in that they never disappoint. Everything the band do is with a hundred percent commitment and an immense desire to please their fans. And talking of pleasing their fans – Temtris have announced a European and UK tour for later this year! And I know I can’t be the only Temtris fan in the UK – but what an excellent opportunity to see the Aussie metal queen, her consort and crew as the band stretch their wings and take their metal magnificence overseas! And to my home country too! Better start preparing now – okay, where’re all my Temtris CDs?
And with buzzsaw guitars lacerating the sky, the band marched on with the foot stomping ‘The Lies Become The Truth’ – and a vocal performance from Gen featuring more power than was needed to power the Large Hadron Collider in Cerne, Switzerland, during 2012’s “splitting the atom” experiment! In fact – if the Swiss decide to run the experiment again, just give Gen and the Temtris crew a call: they’ll split the fucking atom for ya! Clocking in at over seven and a half minutes in length, ‘The Path’ is the longest song on offer – and echoes some of the many longer songs that heavy metal legends Iron Maiden have in their arsenal! I have talked in a previous review of how Gen is capable of fronting ‘Maiden – just listen to Gen’s vocal power at around one minute in! That long-held note is the stuff of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson for sure.
But let’s put ‘Maiden to one side – Gen is Temtris through and through, and I’m sure she’ll never leave for the British icons! The band move well and truly into melodic heavy metal territory with the traditional metaller ‘Revenge’ rumbling on with a harshness that kinda belies what I just said about “melodic heavy metal”. But there’s just something so damn infectious about ‘Revenge’ – maybe it’s the immensely high attractive level. Or the unbelievably catchy nature. Or it’s just simply that Temtris are that fucking good! And crikey Gen – that final long held note! Simply stunning!
The incredible intensity level the band began ‘Khaos Divine’ (the album) with has just gotten higher and higher the longer the album has run. And with just two songs remaining, the intensity level is at its highest – ‘Evolution Of Hate’ a thunderous slice of traditional heavy metal, hitting hard with hammer blows heavier than even the mighty Norse God Thor can deliver! And now to the album’s final hurrah, ‘Ground Zero’ a six-minute epic straight off the top shelf! The mellow and acoustic-led intro is simply sensational, building an atmosphere of tension and anticipation to a climactic crescendo – and then BOOM!
Temtris hit you right between the eyes with an emphatic and energetic, furiously fast-paced torrent of heavy metal bordering on thrash – the band delivering a show-stopping finale at an incredible speed to round off an album that has surprised, excited and delighted! And with the prospect of seeing the band live at some point later in the year – my dream of meeting the Aussie metal queen, the fantastic Mister Fox, and the rest of the Temtris crew has just become a reality!
Overall, a superb album of infectious and head bang-able heavy metal, ‘Khaos Divine’ is a masterstroke of genius.
Temtris: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Wormholedeath Records
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
