Temtris is a female fronted metal band, however, they differ from the other bands of the genre due to the voice and personality of their frontwoman, Genevieve Rodda. Hailing from Australia and playing in a massive heavy/power metal style, Temtris look like they are about to conquer the metal world under the command of Genevieve Rodda. “Khaos Divine” is the band’s latest official opus, a concept album of crushing heavy/power metal, and Myth of Rock, after listening to its songs, communicated with Genevieve and had a very interesting, nice talk!
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
About a couple months ago, Temtris released their new album, “Khaos Divine”. Which are your feelings about it? Are you satisfied with the response of the media and the fans?
The response has been amazing from fans and the media. We have received such great reviews. It’s always stressful releasing new albums and worrying if the fans will like the direction we have taken. But this album has definitely won our fans over.
Where and when was the new album recorded? Who was the producer? Who did the mixing and the mastering? Please describe the recording process and the whole production of “Khaos Divine”.
The album was recorded in a few different places. The guitars and bass are recorded in our studio. We recorded vocals and drums at Main Street Studio’s
in Wollongong over three days. Anthony Fox, our guitarist, did the producing of the album and a basic mix before it was sent off to Lord Tim for mastering. We wanted a clear, fresh and modern mix for this album and I think we have achieved this.
What about the lyrics of the new album’s songs? Is “Khaos Divine” a concept album? Who wrote them and where do these lyrics refer to?
Khaos Divine is a modern concept album and the songs were written by all the band members. The lyrics describe the world in which the story is set in. A world with 3 tiers and a life that is almost eternal. But eternal life comes at a price and Khaos (The God) controls you . Is it really living if you know what you are doing everyday over and over again. The main character Ember is telling the story through the songs.
Can you give us all the necessary info about the cover artwork of “Khaos Divine”?
The artwork has a girl on the front cover called Ember. She is the main character of the story and we, Temtris, have always had females on the front cover of our albums. The band had a basic idea of what we wanted the front cover to look like. Ember is standing over the city and in her hand she holds the head of her enemy which she takes revenge on. We had an artist put together the album concept and then we built the cover art from there.
What inspires you to write music and lyrics? What music are you listening to nowadays?
The inspiration for “Khaos Divine” came from listening to “Somewhere In Time” by Iron Maiden. I listen to everything from rock music, like The Cult to heavier bands such as Death and Carcass. I usually get ideas from life experiences but this latest album was all fantasy driven.
How would you define the music style of Temtris? Which are the music trademarks of Temtris, in your opinion?
We are a band that likes to not restrict our song writing to a particular metal genre, if a song needs a certain music piece in it to convey the story we will use it.
Temtris does have a trademark twin guitar attack, power vocals and big choruses you can sing along to. That is something you will hear in all our albums.
You have a story of over 20 years as a band. What do you remember most from the early days of the band? How were things for heavy metal in Australia back then?
It was hard work to get to where we are now, we have pushed through member changes, venue closures, covid and our own personal challenges to keep going when things get tough. The scene has changed a little, life is expensive and people find it hard to afford to make shows like they use too. The hardcore metal fans are always there but it amazes me how many metalheads you see at big concerts and i wonder why they do not get to the smaller shows anymore.
Which was the best moment and which was the worst moment in your career until now?
Our best moment would be opening for our first major band Accept in 2014 to a sold out show. Sitting and chatting with them afterwards was a moment i’ll never forget. The worst would be when our drummer was refused flights to our New Zealand tour at the airport and we had to cancel our tour then and there. That was a tough phone call to make to the promoter.
After so many years, which are your ambitions for Temtris?
Probably to be able to do this more as a fulltime job and jump onto the festival circuit. In September we are doing our first UK and European tour. We are very excited about this.
What does keep you active and productive as a band?
We enjoy the creation of music and pushing ourselves to new levels. After each album I often say I am not sure we can keep stepping up and releasing more music, but we always do. We enjoy performing live and there is nothing better than writing a new album and hearing the final product.
How much different is Temtris now, compared to the band’s beginning? How much have you progressed?
Our song writing has grown as has our own abilities, we are better at what we do now and the technology to record at home makes things easier. We have a fantastic team of musicians that all have the same goals. The latest album came together quite fast and I think that shows how much better we have gotten at our craft.
Why did you name the band “Temtris”? Which is the story behind the name?
We wanted to represent a feminine version of the devil. The queen of temptation who lures humanity into darkness. We decided on ‘Temtris’, in a similar way to the decision to use Khaos rather than ‘chaos’ for the latest album. It’s a title, a name that is symbolic of the idea, rather than an adjective.
You have played numerous live shows in your career until now. How do Temtris sound live? How significant are concerts for Temtris?
We are all live on stage, we do not use backing tracks except for our intro piece. We are energetic and want to sound as close to our album sounds on cd as we do live. Playing in small venues is fun and gets you up close with the audience but we also enjoy the freedom a big stage gives you to put on a show.
How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect you?
It was tough, we had our “Ritual Warfare” album released through the Covid pandemic. We were not sure if we should book a tour or not. But we did and played shows to punters that had to sit down. It was not easy, venues had restrictions on how many could attend. People were apprehensive about buying tickets in case they got sick or shows were cancelled. I and Anthony Fox played a few livestreams for fans during lockdown. People still tell me this kept them sane.
Which are your future plans?
At the moment we are focused on our tour of Australia which we are halfway through. Then we head to the UK and Europe in September. We have started talking about what direction we would like to take the next album but have made no plans yet.
Send your message to the fans!
Temtris crew sends its thanks for everyone’s support. We hope to see you at a show.
Horns up to you all m/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTxaw6pvADw
