Idle time in the hands of musicians usually proactive on the road means you might as well get down to business and write another album, right? Such is the case for Italian modern melodic heavy metal quintet Temperance – after releasing Viridian in January 2020, the world quickly went into lockdown mode. With no shows on the horizon, this sixth record Diamanti came into focus – a twelve track offering that contains more diversity combined with more collaborations in the songwriting ways than ever before.
The triad singing approach allows for unison harmony possibilities as well as fair tradeoffs in the verse department – although there are a few key tracks developed for one specific singer compared to the others. Check into the ballad “Fairy Tales for the Stars” that showcases Michele Guaitoli’s airy, vibrant melodies, the mid-tempo uplifting arena rocker “I the Loneliness” for guitarist Marco Pastorino’s passionate high-octane voice, and the punchy yet playful “Let’s Get Started” tailor made for the bubbly, energetic delivery from Alessia Scolletti. When you want to hear a heavier, driving song that conveys the feeling of the great metal cruise 70,000 Tons of Metal, look no further than “Breaking the Rules of Heavy Metal” – the pulsating, speedy tempo and swirling guitar/keyboards matching the atmosphere best portrayed seeing bands live in the seas of freedom. The symphonic layers wrapped in a metal context shine on “Black Is My Heart” – another stellar outing with appropriate tradeoffs and magnificent background harmony/ choir support to raise the dynamic angles along with a killer, thoughtful lead break out of Marco. Temperance are also good at delivering the left-field twist on occasion – which is what you’ll get for the folk-driven “Litany of the Northern Lights” plus the epic power journey that is “Follow Me” – the latter featuring some cool Deep Purple-like organ parts.
It’s not easy to gain a wide cross section of followers in the metal community these days. Diamanti could succeed in that regard for those who love melodic, power, and symphonic metal with an aggressive approach on the guitars, plus magnificent vocal melodies that blend well next to the music.