Australia, being in its semi-isloated state, has developed a music scene that, like it's people, seems slightly left of "normal" and in most cases this is great. I joyfully say Temtris is Australian. From the opening "Rapture" it is apparent that they're striving to be more than just "some thrash metal group from down under", but when "Flames of Defiance" kicks in, the opening radio chatter distracts from the music that is laid down. Mercifully it stops when the main body of the song starts and Genevieve Rodda starts to exercise her powerful voice, perfectly suited for the tandem guitar tracks that Anthony Roberts and Anthony Hoffman laid out for her to play with.

"Wings of Death" was when I started to feel the flaws in this production. The music is great, "Run" is a memorable song well composed and beautifully performed, and "Serpent" has an almost flamenco start that breaks into a very heavy riff, but there was something else...When "Breathe" started, my niggling suspicions of what was bothering me started to gel in the back of my mind. It boiled down to two things. While Nick Willis is an accomplished bass player, and Youhan AD's footwork is spectacular to say the least, they're also the newest members of the band, with Youhan joining just this year. They technically are in sync but you can feel they're just now getting in sync with each others "groove", and that takes time.

"Carry You" is a power ballad worthy of the moniker, never really becoming a ballad, just a slow heavy tune that allows Genevieve to stretch her vocal cords to exceptional heights while the band revels in trying to slow things down without slowing things down. The last two songs, "Fight" and "Rise of Dawn" are well thought out and very easy to both listen to and bang your head along with.

I left "Parasite" till this point because I think it's opening illustrates my second problem I hear in this recording. It feels and sounds like the whole production was rushed and they didn't have the time to truly polish this raw gem. When the one guitar goes into a gallop, the second comes in with way to much compression on it, ruining what is a classic metal give and take. Little things like this tend to distract from the overall performance, and I wish studio time was more forgiving, but we get what we get. Regardless of the new guys coming to grips with the overall flavor of the band, they add little twists to every song that are unique and enjoyable and I'm looking forward to anything new coming down the road. TEMTRIS' "Rapture" is definitely worth a listen to.