After forming in late 2012, WA's Tempest Rising have established themselves as one of Australia’s most individual, alternative metal acts.
Tempest Rising are characterised by a blend of hard-hitting groovy riffs, soaring choruses and fast-paced, thrash-driven verses, all set alight with the vocals of frontman Vin Trikeriotis.
Ahead of their showcase at WAMFest as part of the Metal Event, we catch up with guitarist James Ward-Armstrong.
The band released a new album, ‘Alter Ego’, in August; how has the response been?
Great. It's been a long time between albums and we had been drip feeding singles between the albums, so it was great to get the full-length out especially with how long it took to get out. But every response so far has been awesome and it makes all that hard work worth it in the end.
As an overall offering, were the band pleased with the final results of the record?
Yes we are. I guess because we took so long to release it (some of those songs are nearly two years old) and with hearing how the songs progress (raw recordings, different mixes etc.) we probably didn't appreciate them as much as we did when it was on a CD, finished product out to the masses. But we are really happy with how it turned out.
Were there any elements/ tracks you wished you could have tinkered for longer?
Not at this moment in time haha! We pushed and pushed back, and revisited the tracks many of times; chopped and changed etc. etc. So, I don't think we could of done much more. But I'm sure something may crop up maybe in the future, haha!
There were four years between the group’s debut album and ‘Alter Ego’; will there be a shorter turnaround for album #3?
Let's hope so. . . We are a band that likes to keep the wheel moving. We travelled a lot in between the albums, which costs a lot of money.
We don't like to shut away [sic] for three, four months and record an album; in today's industry, you need to stay current and active not giving any opportunity for people to forget you. So I guess that comes at a cost, but we were very fortunate to get a lot of international support slots in Perth, which I guess helped build up more of an audience for this second album.
The band are now mainstays of Perth’s metal scene; what does it mean personally to have a group become embedded into the local scene like Tempest Rising are in WA?
I think we are known, but wouldn't say mainstays haha! There is still loads of people that haven't heard of us, so I still think there is a lot of work to be done.
I guess I compare ourselves to the likes of Voyager and Chaos Divine, and their following in Perth. In saying that, they have been around for pretty much double the life span of us and playing shows when people actually went out; I guess that's what keeps myself grounded personally and to strive for more.
The European tour earlier this year; that must’ve been a riot?
Geez that was a hectic six weeks. Even the months leading up to it. The whole tour was a highlight. It went better then we expected.
Look, there was some shows (midweek) that were quiet and then some that were massive. I guess being an 'international' band and being Australian it may appeal to some punters and entice them to come to a show. Put it this way, all the 'quiet shows' we played, the people there were there to see us, which is a win in our books.
You can only do so much promo for an 'unknown independent Australian band', so we didn't know what to expect. The highlights for me personally on the show aspect were Russia and Ukraine.
Are further international tours part of the plan for Tempest Rising?
Some things are in the works for sure. Love to go back to Europe, which is something we can do off our own backs. USA would be great, however I feel we would need to jump on a tour or some sort to justify the expenses.
But that's something we want to work towards, as we believe our music has a larger US appeal. Around Asia would be great. Somewhere nice and cheap haha! Sky's the limit for us.
The band will be showcasing at WAMFest; what do you guys have planned for the show?
A high energy, balls to wall performance. We go hard every show we play. High energy is the key for us. If we can get the crowd going, it gives us the ability to turn it up to 11, so be sure to catch our set.
What does it mean to be part of an event like WAMFest?
It's great to be asked. We had to pull out of the last one, due to a conflicting schedule so it's great we can get on and showcase.
Funny story is we nearly didn't make the line-up; thanks to our lovely junk mail. We hadn't checked it for a week or two, and it happened to get cleaned out and there was the invite. So lucky we are on the bill.
Who are a couple of other bands also playing WAMFest punters should know about?
Illyria are great. Prog black metal (I guess that's what I would call it) but the musicianship is crazy and I envy their skills. All This Filth have been causing quite the ruckus lately with their new releases; what's not to love about them. Those veterans have been rocking out back when I was in primary school.
The upcoming summer; is it going to be massive one for Tempest Rising?
We have a few big shows coming up, a few support slots applied for and we want to get back over east; only time will tell, but no doubt we will make it a big one.
Congrats re: the band been selected to play the WA leg of 2020 Wacken Metal Battle; what would it mean if you guys did win your way to play Wacken Open Air?
Hard work pays off. It would mean that we would have to plan another tour around that show for sure. But it would have to be after the Wacken show. I rolled the dice on getting all five of us around Europe somehow in one piece and not late to any shows; nor did we miss anything, so don't want to try my luck again, haha! But it's great to just get picked to play.
