Review by Saxy S for Temperance - Viridian (2020)

Well power metal doesn’t seem to be off to a blazing start in 2020, so we are going to talk about Temperance, an Italian based power metal band that might make the B listers in the power metal pyramid. They have always been about two steps behind their influences (Within Temptation, Nightwish, etc.), but did make prominent steps forward in 2018 on Of Jupiter and Moons after almost half the band was substituted for. So did they make any more improvements on Viridian? Are they in the A tier of power metal?

Well… no. Viridian is a serviceable power metal record that will certainly make their audience happy and tide them over until Nightwish release their new album later this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s forgotten about in record time after.

The production is pretty lackluster on this album; the synth choices are very blocky and don’t mesh well with most songs. The guitars are loud and near the front of the mix, but never give way for any nuance or subtlety. The bass parts are practically non-existent, and the parts of the vocals that I can hear over the guitars sound promising enough, but once again, they are very quiet in the overall mixing.

The other big issue is the songwriting. All of these songs follow the same formula of verse/chorus/bridge, followed by a key change final chorus and outro. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good key change, but most of these songs don’t deserve their key change since they never evolve from the very start. This album is quite formulaic overall.

I mean it isn’t bad, but I won’t return to this very much. Temperance are just one producer away from really clicking with me and becoming one of the elite tier names in modern power metal.