Interview by Kris Peters
Sydney based hard rock/metal outfit Temtris are finally beginning to see reward for effort.
Over six previous albums the band has built a strong fan base off the back of a relentless touring schedule and never-say-die attitude. They have always stayed in touch with their fans and pillaged the best parts of the metal genres to create a sonic landscape drawing from thrash, hard rock, power metal and rock.
With a twin pronged guitar drenched sound atop the majestically soaring vocal range of Genevieve Rodda, Temtris have redefined the way metal bands approach their craft in this country.
Now, after more than two decades honing their sound, Temtris are preparing to release their most ambitious and dangerous album yet.
Khaos Divine breaks convention by being a completely conceptually based collection of songs, telling the story of struggle and oppression in a dystopian society possibly closely shadowing our own future.
With an overseas tour scheduled for later this year and a massive album launch run of their home country to coincide with the album release, Temtris are certainly capitalising on the momentum already afforded Khaos Divine, which seems certain to intensify once the album is released on March 17.
Rodda sat down with HEAVY to reveal more about their 7th and most complete album.
"We wanted to modernise our sound a little bit," she began. "We wanted it to be a bit fresh, and I think we've done that, even in the mix. It's quite clear and fresh for what we've done on previous albums. We've always had a bit of a grittier sound with our other albums but even the reviewers are saying the vocals are crystal clear and they are liking that. I think we've reached what we wanted to portray. It's still got our traditional Temtris sound, but there's something different about it and I think it's that little modern tweak that we've done with the songwriting. It's really helped to get the story across and it matches the concept."
As is usual with Temtris, the band has combined elements of a large number of metal genres from thrash to power metal and everything in between to encapsulate the sound on Khaos Divine, with Rodda admitting that versatility is something she considers the core aspect of their music.
"We call ourselves heavy metal, but on every album we've got one thrash song on there," she smiled. "We have always done that. We use whatever genre we need to convey the emotion of the music, so we don't box ourselves in and I think that helps us write new music sounds fresh and new each time with each album. We don't just go, we're a power metal band and we have to do this. We don't restrict ourselves in that sense when it comes to songwriting. On this album Ground Zero is the thrash song, and that's what we do. We set out to write a thrash track, but then you've got Eternal Death Machine which has a black metal picking intro. That just came together because the song needed something and I went how about you boys try this, and it worked. It's not always locked in, but sometimes we do go for that defined this is a thrash track and this is what we want. I would say with the previous album Ritual Warfare we had a desire to write a fast album, so the songs are a lot faster in that sense but with this album the music had to match the story and the emotion we were conveying. We definitely didn't box ourselves in, but that final track Ground Zero was set to be a thrash song because it was about everything exploding (laughs)."
In the full interview, Genevieve discusses the concept in greater detail, learning how to use her voice for power and effect, why they chose to write a concept album, the opening track The Grand Design and why it introduces Khaos Divine, playing the album live and the benefits and disadvantages of writing in a concept style, their Australian tour and what to expect, their first overseas tour later this year, capturing the perfect sound and more.