This is not a good CD, this is a GREAT CD. And, from of all places Venezuela, not a location known for exceptional female fronted metal. Female fronted salsa, hell yea, and I’ve heard a few of them. But this music leaves little to be desired should you fancy this approach to music. Exceptionally strong guitars and drums, some appropriate symphonics and keyboards, and a first class metal vocalist, one Juls Sosa. And the production demonstrates a capability that would make a Dutch band drool. The band discusses in the Letourneau interview the extreme length of time it took to produce this work, some three years. Not that it all looked like a work of drudgery, as demonstrated here. Hope you got all that Spanish, there were some interesting comments, if you didn’t, but I won’t reveal them here. And that’s my lone complaint about the CD, NO Spanish lyrics. That omission was discussed in the interview but I’ve heard it all before, and, although I’m largely alone with this complaint, I sure want to hear bands sing in their native language, at least a little bit, especially when it’s MY second language. Oh well.

The music does have its strong points, no matter what the language. This is metal, really strong metal, the way it’s supposed to be played. I usually use head phones hooked to something to review music, but, with this material, I cranked up the big box, my lowly pied-a-terre rockin’ like Carnegie Hall. There’s not a bad note anywhere, and the writing that sets the stage for that sound is exceptional. Again, much of the thinking and conceptualization that went into that original work is detailed in the interview. We’ll focus on a couple titles as we go, but, be aware, there are no "dead rocks" on this product. They’re all first class.

One of the real strengths of the music is the diversification found throughout the work. We get the rockers, we get some interesting, thought provoking material, and we get the beautiful. I’ve got my favorites, you’ll have yours, and I don’t think I’d argue with any suggestions. There is, to some extent, a common theme lyrically. But, you have to be prepared to be broad in your interpretation of that "theme". In general, they speak of the human experience, the human heart, enclosed in a darkness, searching for the light. Of course, the light is a difficult concept to define, and each one of us must take a different road to arrive at this destination. Intemperia seems to recognize this requirement and are comfortable with various means to this end. The lone soul defined by its ever present factotums who envision a simple, straightforward path to this achievement are forever lost in that darkness from which we all originate, and which, many would argue, we return to as we face our end. So maybe it’s only a momentary spark within our eternity, but it may be all we have to look forward to, and Inteperia seem to argue that this quest is worth the effort, no matter the final outcome. And the music seems to mirror this variance in life paths with a little different musical vehicle to engage in each approach to the journey, each illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable in its own way. Most, however, reflect the harder road, which, of course, may mirror reality for most of us, unless you’re a Wall Street banker, of course. The three initial tracks, Chains of Gold, Embrace the Night, and No Hopes introduce us to this harder direction. The first two actually begin with a little bit of an electronic sound, probably reflective of the salsa dance halls found in Latin communities. But, they get to the metal directly, and to that metal vocal that tells the tales. And, for much of the CD, this is the MO, hard, solid metal, combined with interesting lyrics which might sound better in Spanish but that’s just my opinion.

The band talks about several of their favorite tracks in the interview, most seem to reflect my interests as well. Certainly one has to be Aphanas which, according to the band, is a Russian term meaning roughly "immortal". The song takes some interesting musical twists, we get some solid keyboard symphonics, I guess to support that Russian perspective. But the lyrics provide an interesting view to that journey through darkness theme that is the guiding path of the CD. We hear:

Stop crawling / You’re not dead
Stop fighting against yourself / the darkness you’ve always lived with
Gave you the power to see / when the light is gone
To all the eyes of mortal days / you’ve overcome

The following track, Vulture, provides maybe the hardest musical interpretation of this perspective. We get some really solid guitars, and the vocals almost go to a death metal style, I guess about as close as Juls can get. And the lyrics are equally dark, hard to see hope in this one really, but, musically, you don’t worry too much. You’re up off the couch and doing the double boogie, to hell with the message.

Embrace the Night provides us with a slightly different musical pulse. This one is more deliberate, the background sound less hard guitar driven. A more interesting keyboard, and a very different vocal. Here we see what our vocalist can do under the heading "beautiful". You only get an introduction to this capability here, but, with the symphonics we get a profoundly different capability than what was delivered in much of the previous material, and a very enjoyable one to be sure.

However, we saved the best for last, IMO. The last two tracks provide the most significantly reflective material on the work, and truly the most beautiful. I Hold On to You is the traditional ballad, with almost a Spanish direction to it. We showcase a wonderful vocal here; supported by keyboard symphonics in the true tradition of the Gothic musical direction we all know and love. And our vocalist doesn’t disappoint. She can sure ‘nuff do this approach as well as the kick ass metal. And with a little Spanish guitar to bring the tears to these old eyes.

But, it gets better, with the final track Unbreakable, which the band suggests is a different direction from the rest of the CD, at least musically. Here we get a beautiful duet, with a guest male vocalist. And this addition only enhances the lead vocalist, with a slightly different approach to the music and the message. Here, we get what could be described as a romantic track.

See through my life / it can’t be lived by only one
Dance with every step we take / and reach beyond horizons far away
Just live, don’t think

That one is a great one, I’ve listened to it over and over and it just gets better. Hard to believe they originally wanted to keep it off the CD.

So this is Intemperia, from far away Venezuela. And more proof that the Female Metal direction is a worldwide phenomenon, and showing no signs of slowing down, it only gets better. In fact, this one is good enough to grade out as a 11, but I won’t. I’ll cut it a half a point in order to establish my wish to see at least one song in Spanish on the next release. Other than that, damn near perfect.

9.5 / 10