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Alter Ego

    
       
       
       
     
             
Tempest Rising are a heavy/groove metal band from Australia formed in 2012 releasing their debut album 'Transmutation' in 2014. The band have toured Australia many times and supported Marduk on their tour of Japan. The band have also shared a stage with bands such as Arch Enemy, Sevendust and Apocolyptica. 2019 saw the release of the bands second album 'Alter Ego'.    
             
Featuring a much heavier and groovier sound than their debut album, Tempest Rising are not just gonna make ripples across the worldwide metal scene, they are gonna tsunami the world with their behemoth of a new album. 'Alter Ego' is a savage barrage of groove laden, thrash influenced heavy metal played out over fifty ferocious minutes. Opening with the minute and a half mellow and atmospheric, crescendo building 'Intro', the album launches proper with the fierce 'Fuck The Scene'. An aggression filled tirade of savagery, 'Fuck The Scene' is in your face, totally intense, and opens the flood gates to the tidal wave of immensity that is 'Alter Ego'. The unique style of the bands singer Vin Trikeriotis, is something else - equally adept at delivering harsh death metal growls as he is clean and clear vocals more akin to traditional heavy metal. Crushing riffs threaten to break bones as 'Slight Everlasting' continues the brutal assault, with the cleaner vocal style taking the lead. And after just two songs, am already pumped up, jumping around like a madman and moshing manically - hope I've got enough adrenaline to last...    
             
...as the feel of the album turns a little sinister with 'Burn Them Down' - just for the short intro before all hell breaks loose and 'Burn Them Down' takes off at full flight and hurtles along at high velocity, destroying anything or anyone foolish enough to stand in the way. It's a savage beating that Tempest Rising are dishing out, and 'Singularity' hits very hard, just like a world champion boxer landing a haymaker of a knockout punch. 'Duplicates' drops the ante a little bit and the album moves into a sort of grunge/alternative/industrial crossover style. Still maintaining the albums overall heaviness, 'Duplicates' shudders the ground as it marches on by. Picking up the tempo, energy and aggression levels, 'Ghosts' canters on at pace, swinging between groove laden thrash and groove laden melodic metal. And all the time the bands singer Vin is delivering a phenomenal vocal performance. All out thunder rages fiercely, as 'Curb Stomp' err, stomps its anger everywhere. Aggression filled and intense, 'Curb Stomp' is a glorious mix of vocal styles...    
             
...a mix that may have you thinking "it's two singers init" - nope, just the one. Now, according to the dictionary, "tempest" is defined as a "violent windy storm"... Tempest Rising are more like a full force ménage a trois between a hurricane, a tornado and a typhoon! Devastating... Tension heightens and the savage battering takes a brutal turn as 'Ostracize Me' pounds like a jack hammer, and may just leave some listeners with a head ache. The grunge/alternative/industrial style from earlier makes a return with the heavy hitting yet somewhat melodic 'Escape The Sky'. The versatility of Tempest Rising is immense, swinging this way and that, yet they always maintain their groove laden thrash roots - roots that relentlessly drive the album on. 'Revolutionary' is a thunderstorm of heavy hits, a rocking romp with the biggest melodic edge of any song on offer, and a glorious mid tempo march. And almost in the blink of eye we've reached the final song... And what a bludgeoning 'Breathe' dishes out. The mix of melodic metal, groove and thrash is simply perfect - like the rest of the album. The impact Tempest Rising are gonna make with this album will be huge, propelling onto the world stage - exactly where they should be.    
             
Overall, a savage barrage of ferocious groove laden thrash, Tempest Rising deliver a bruising fifty minutes of adrenaline pumping heavy metal.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Black-Roos Entertainment    
             
             
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