Tempter: S/T 12″

Description

Hurtling along at the speed of global rage, and merging the best of crossover metal and hardcore from 80s Japan, Sweden and UK, Tempter brings a new voice to a legendary sound. It should come as no surprise that the group is comprised of hardcore veterans whose collective pedigree includes bands such as Candy, Division of Mind, Nosebleed, Ekulu and more.

Standouts Sacricide and Pestilence, built on pulverizing riffs and apocalyptic solos, bookend the S/T EP while Uniformed Madness and Night Terror barrel toward impending doom with the speed of a buzzsaw. Mixed by Fucked Ups Jonah Falco, the production distills crushing noise and acidic atmospheres and provides a fitting backdrop for vocalist Valentina Lopezs showstopping and varied performance. La Lluvia, with its use of samples and layers of synths, dances around spoken word sections that read out a poem of the same name by Roberto Bolao, one of Chiles greatest writers:

ahora puedes llorar y dejar que tu imagen se diluya
En los parabrisas de los coches estacionados a lo largo
Del paseo martimo. Pero no puedes perderte.

Right now you can cry and let your image dissolve
on the windshields of cars parked along
the boardwalk. But you cant lose yourself.

Bolaos work fits perfectly with the biting satirical punk mood that Lopez exudes with every breath. He often questioned the privilege of making art while the junta would torture people in basements. Hardcore, punk and metal often presents itself as a political act more than music, whether in its DIY ethic or protest lyrics. However, perhaps we find it too easy to fall into its angry embrace and eat each other alive whilst the world outside continues to fall. This music makes hell on earth a little bit more bearable, but ultimately, Bolao and Lopez call on counterculture music to have meaning and political action.

Our take: Tempter is a new band from Richmond, Virginia featuring members of Nosebleed, Candy, Division of Mind, and many others. While all of those bands sound pretty different from one another, Tempters style is rooted in the metal / hardcore crossover of mid-80s Europe. When I think of crossover, I imagine fast, precise riffing and nimble rhythms, but that isnt Tempters sound at all. Theyre much more atmospheric, a quality accentuated by the mix, which puts the drums pretty far back and lays a lot of distortion on the guitars and vocals, making the whole thing sound like a fuzzy wash. Theres also not a lot of fast thrashing parts, with Tempter spending most of these five tracks laying into catchy, mid-paced riffs that would be just as at home on Best Wishes as Within the Prophecy. The unexpected production gives Tempter a sinister sound, more like a tense and creepy thriller than a full on splatter movie. This atmospheric quality comes across most uniquely in La Lluvia, which features samples, synths, and spoken-word vocals drawn from a poem by Chilean writer Roberto Bolao. While that track pushes at the boundaries of Tempters sound, they follow it up with Pestilence, a riffy crowd-pleaser in the making. If you dug Games killer recent EP, Legerdemain, you should check this out, but Tempters unique take on this crossover sound stands on its own merits.