Temic
Terror Management Theory

Oh my, so many bands popping up like mushrooms, it's hard to keep up with the entire scene, which is why I spent several years re-listening for the three-hundredth time to the same bands I was into in 2010. However, since 2020, something clicked in me, and I felt the need to dive into a nice collection of bands that have made their mark in the last decade or important bands from the past that I had culpably ignored, not that my sins are completely atoned, eh.

I rarely lend an ear to bands with just a debut album, probably because the idea of incomplete discography, the lack of a journey, doesn't captivate me much. If I do, it's because there's already a name I know and appreciate involved, and I'm curious to see what they bring to this new adventure. I decided to listen to Temic after reading about the presence of Diego Tejeida, the former keyboardist of Haken, whom I consider "a Jordan Rudess with much more daring," whose absence is definitely felt in the latest album of his former band. Another familiar name in the lineup is Eric Gillette from the Neal Morse Band, but this didn't motivate me as I never ventured into this band's discography.

There's not much to say or unfold; Temic's debut is absolutely convincing without being revolutionary. It draws from a good portion of modern prog-metal and doesn't shy away from djent. It's an album that's "fashionable" in a positive way, with sharp and decisive guitars, and equally sharp and massive bass parts. The bass-guitar combination results in a rather lethal mix. All this is well alternated with slower and more anguished parts, with gray and dark atmospheres but without exaggeration—don't expect an extreme prog-metal album. There's a good balance of the two components. Overall, the album also has a good melodic setup, marked by solid vocal parts. All the tracks more or less play on this balance (except for the slow and short introductory track), but the central "Acts of Violence" is literally divided in two, being so slow and anguished in the first half and as direct and sharp in the second. The two more extreme and sharp tracks, the ones that sound like two whiplashes, are "Count Your Losses" and the instrumental "Friendly Fire." The drum work doesn't exclude well-crafted technicalities... and then there's the keyboard work: when Diego steps into action, it's undeniably him, with his flashy and aggressive style, made of heavy electronics, solid passages, and shrill and extremely acidic solos. There's no room for his more playful and witty side that he used to bring out in Haken simply because Temic's style doesn't allow it, but instead, we discover an anguished side of him we didn't know (and maybe he didn't know either). Even in the slower moments, the sound appears rough and full of restless reverberations; let's say that if you enjoyed Haken's "Vector," you shouldn't have any problem getting in sync with his work on this album, and in general, you should like the album as a whole.

I'd like to close with a reflection that listening to the album awakened in me: when I listen to a prog-metal album from the last decade, what I notice is a general tendency towards extremeness, almost always leaning towards djent, and a melody that is present, yes, but not as brilliant and poignant as in past decades. It's a natural evolution of a genre, and it's right that it exists. I myself promote innovation and continuous exploration; there are fascinating and fresh things... but at a melodic and emotional level, I will always be attached to the first wave of prog-metal, that of the '90s and 2000s: those power-derived guitars, those deep melodic openings of AOR extraction, those brilliant '80s-inspired keyboards; the likes of Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery, Vanden Plas, Threshold, Royal Hunt, Symphony X, Dreamscape, Andromeda, Pagan's Mind, all innovative bands for their time and now outdated, from which one no longer expects revolutionary albums (the most imminent are Vanden Plas, and I already expect a methodical and ordinary record), but their melodies were incredible, and nostalgia always comes... yet we have to set it aside.