TEMPESTT – Bring ’em On

The roots of Brazilian band Tempestt goes way back to the 90s. As a cover band they gained a wide reputation in their home country and got the opportunity to play with great stars such as Billy Sheehan and Jeff Scott Soto. Jeff was even so impressed by the band that he uses them as the opening act every time he’s touring Brazil. This did also result in that the guys in Tempestt wanted him to sing a duet on their debut album Bring ‘Em On , which was released earlier this year. Bring ‘Em On features music which is a great mixture of brutal Heavy Metal riffs and catchy melodies that can drag a line from this band to the Melodic Rock genre as well as Heavy Metal.

“Faked By Time” starts this record. Dominated by great and powerful riffs this is a worthy opener. The verse is quite melodic and the vocalist sounds chimerical and awesome. At times he sounds like Italian singer Michelle Luppi from Vision Divine. During the chorus he sounds even better than on the verse, it’s a real pleasure listening to such a great singer. Some really cool guitar playing appears too. Tempestt really delivers a high quality song with this one; it’s truly the very highlight of this record.

The title track “Bring ‘Em On” is the following tune and is another fantastic piece of music. The verse is characterized by progressive attacks in the rhythm section and a beautiful piano melody. Again a fine job done by singer “BJ”, lots of cool drumming as well. This song is followed by the passionate and lovely ballad “A Life’s Alibi” which is dominated by pianos and keyboard orchestrations.

The song that ends the album is a cover of the legendary Journey song “Don’t Stop Believing.” Vocalist “BJ” does an incredible job and is indeed worthy ex-Journey singer Steve Perry that sung on the song. Guitarist Gustavo Barros plays some very astonishing guitar licks too. They sure made a fantastic version of the song, it’s only the ending “don’t stop” vocal harmony that dragged the tune a bit down.

The standout sound from this record is indeed the bass guitar. It sounds so massive and rough, giving the music an extra punch. Gustavo’s guitar sound is awesome as well, the rhythm guitar is aggressive and the solo guitar is clear and distinctive. Tempestt have written a perfect debut album. The music of Tempestt sticks to your mind immediately, driven by heavy riffs and fine melodies. 8/10 is a worthy character for such a great album! Let’s hope to hear more from this Brazilian quartet!