Review by Felix on May 30, 2019.

Back in 1986, I was on vacation in Italy and I entered a record shop in Florence. I saw the EP of Rex Inferi and I asked the seller a very intelligent question: is this more like Kiss or more like Motörhead? He was probably a very patriotic Italian, because his answer was: this is more like Vanadium. I still had no clue how this vinyl would sound.

However, I bought the record, and this was the wrong decision. The synthetic keyboard intro is just useless, but the regular tracks are really predominantly lame. The band mixes stale hard rock elements with some slightly harsher ideas and the seventies shimmer through many guitar lines. I am no fan of the music of this decade and it's probably unfair to blame pioneers of Italian metal for the awkwardness of their first musical steps. However, the bitter truth is that the album bleeds from multiple wounds. For example, the high-pitched vocals suck. They lack power and charisma. Some guitar lines fail to create a proper heaviness, although there is a small number of acceptable riffs and leads. From time to time the band gets crazy and tries to embrace the speed metal maniacs ("Axeman in Black"). Indeed, the instrumental parts really develop a certain pressure. Nevertheless, this is no classic of the genre, but a pretty decent number at best. The remaining compositions sound provincial and more or less amateurish, albeit there can be no doubt that the band has integrated many ideas in each and every regular track - but, as much as I regret it, mostly mediocre ideas.

The songs were obviously recorded by someone who had never made a metal production before, or she/he just wanted to create this relatively light sound with feeble drums. The heaviness of the guitars shows up every now and then, for instance during the pretty long, competent yet slightly egocentric solo of the closer, but honestly speaking, the vapid mix meets the quality of the songs on an equal footing. So here is my message to all metal archaeologists: there is not really a cause to unearth this vinyl.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10

Review by Jason on March 2, 2012.

Psycroptic is a band that burst onto the Tech-Death scene back in the early 2000’s with a very unique sound to add to an (at the time) blossoming sub-genre. With their sophomore release, "The Scepter Of The Ancients" they effectively put together the perfect storm with their vocals unique style, fresh riffs galore and an overall sound that defined them as Psycroptic. Soon afterwards however the group lost their front man.

Subsequent albums failed to garner as much praise, largely due to the change on the vocal front. The replacement, Jason Peppiatt was a solid vocalist, yet just didn’t have the same feel to fit the act. In 2008 "Ob(Servant)" was released, and while not reaching the level of acclaim that "The Scepter Of The Ancients" did; it did effectively give hope to fans of the act that they could all work together to recreate a collective feel. Enter 2012, and the release of "The Inherited Repression".

In spite of any short comings of the past couple albums, I looked forward to this release with an abundance of anticipation. In nearly every way I was filled with disappointment upon absorbing what it has to offer.

"The Inherited Repression" is in many ways the exact opposite of what Psycroptic revealed in a decade ago. Death vocals are more or less absent throughout the album in its entirety; instead the guys opt for Jason’s more Metal-Core styling and ever annoying ‘tough guy’ shouts. New and engaging riffs that can carry the listener throughout entire songs are replaced by generic, uninspired segments yearning to follow through, but always falling short. A cohesive sound that drips with a unique flavor has vanished, in trade for what is now a very vanilla feel void of personality. Technical prowess is lacking, and instead we get a rather streamlined, safe infrastructure to songs.

There is nothing inherently bad about this release. The production quality is good, and the performances are technically sound. That said, with apparent lack of inspiration and their choice of direction on the vocal front "The Inherited Repression" never truly manages to wallow in much past mediocrity. Once again, this album can be summed up in one word; disappointment.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 4
Production: 8
Originality: 4
Overall: 6

Rating: 5.8 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on April 18, 2022.

Tempestas was an obscure band from Brazil that existed for a very short period in the mid 1990s, in a scene not known for its technical death metal. Brazil had always focused more on black and thrash attacks, with a few death metal bands that had some name recognition, and even fewer that had a progressive/technical edge to their sound. Alongside countrymates Strangulation, who released their debut this same year, Tempestas aimed to change that by bringing artsy death metal to the Brazilian mainstream. Their one and only album doesn't receive much attention, but I'm a firm believer that this shouldn't be, as Tempestas were able to create some of the finest progressive death metal of their time.

Euphony Of Contradictions kicks off with the riff-tastic whirlwind that is 'Foreseeable Survivance', a winding song that cycles through multiple sections and crushing riffs in a Death-like fashion, setting the tone for the rest of the record. Above all else, "Individual Thought Patterns" and "Human" era Death reign supreme in their eclectic sound. This is followed by the incorrectly spelled but seriously catchy 'Metabolic Disfunction', a quite progressive affair that doesn't ever become too complex and can find its way getting stuck in your head for the rest of the day. The title track starts with a daunting piano introduction before shifting into high gear, showing off influences from Atheist and Nocturnus.

'Storm Of Hallucinations' and 'Exitus Letalis' showcase the band working with longer songs, and to great success. Both of them, especially the latter of the two are epic tracks that are worthy of a number of re-listens to let the song slowly digest into your brain. 'Clandestine Ways' and 'Black Market O' Flesh' are certainly memorable, though they are perhaps the two weakest tracks of the album - still good in their own right.

This album is nowhere near as great as it is without the closing track 'Out Of Synchronism'. I'm a big last song guy, and I often look forward to hearing the last song on an album as I believe it should be one of, if not, the best song on the album. This track is perhaps the best of their short career, a sub 4 minute track that emphasizes everything the band does best. Despite it's short runtime, this song cycles through multiple great riffs and an extremely catchy chorus that'll have you singing (growling) along with the vocals. It's epic despite its length, both progressive and melodic while remaining heavy and brutal. Truly an outro for the ages and perhaps one of the best technical death metal songs of all time.

The sound of the album is quite gritty, definitely not polished at all. I do enjoy this sound for the album though, as everything is audible but not overproduced. It's a perfect 1990s technical death metal sound, one that I've come to know and love as I continue to delve deeper into this genre. The bass has a good sound, the guitars still have punch and the drums don't sound robotic. The vocalist has a John Tardy-esque rasp, and wails over the music with a lot of power and emotion and his vocals surely shouldn't be forgotten, as he puts on quite a unique display on this record. May he rest in peace.

Technical prowess was certainly not hard to come by in the mid 1990s, and Tempestas were among the many tech death bands to begin their short lived careers during this time period. It's a shame that we most likely won't ever see this band, or any incarnation of it again, as it seems most of the band members decided to do nothing else after Tempestas' existence came to an end. Still, what we do have is a virtuous display of intelligent musicianship paired alongside crushing heaviness. A gem of an album, lathered with multiple memorable songs to create a record that shouldn't be forgotten.

FFO: Death, Dissonance, Polluted Inheritance

Favorite song: 'Out Of Synchronism'

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on April 18, 2022.

Tempestas was an obscure band from Brazil that existed for a very short period in the mid 1990s, in a scene not known for its technical death metal. Brazil had always focused more on black and thrash attacks, with a few death metal bands that had some name recognition, and even fewer that had a progressive/technical edge to their sound. Alongside countrymates Strangulation, who released their debut this same year, Tempestas aimed to change that by bringing artsy death metal to the Brazilian mainstream. Their one and only album doesn't receive much attention, but I'm a firm believer that this shouldn't be, as Tempestas were able to create some of the finest progressive death metal of their time.

Euphony Of Contradictions kicks off with the riff-tastic whirlwind that is 'Foreseeable Survivance', a winding song that cycles through multiple sections and crushing riffs in a Death-like fashion, setting the tone for the rest of the record. Above all else, "Individual Thought Patterns" and "Human" era Death reign supreme in their eclectic sound. This is followed by the incorrectly spelled but seriously catchy 'Metabolic Disfunction', a quite progressive affair that doesn't ever become too complex and can find its way getting stuck in your head for the rest of the day. The title track starts with a daunting piano introduction before shifting into high gear, showing off influences from Atheist and Nocturnus.

'Storm Of Hallucinations' and 'Exitus Letalis' showcase the band working with longer songs, and to great success. Both of them, especially the latter of the two are epic tracks that are worthy of a number of re-listens to let the song slowly digest into your brain. 'Clandestine Ways' and 'Black Market O' Flesh' are certainly memorable, though they are perhaps the two weakest tracks of the album - still good in their own right.

This album is nowhere near as great as it is without the closing track 'Out Of Synchronism'. I'm a big last song guy, and I often look forward to hearing the last song on an album as I believe it should be one of, if not, the best song on the album. This track is perhaps the best of their short career, a sub 4 minute track that emphasizes everything the band does best. Despite it's short runtime, this song cycles through multiple great riffs and an extremely catchy chorus that'll have you singing (growling) along with the vocals. It's epic despite its length, both progressive and melodic while remaining heavy and brutal. Truly an outro for the ages and perhaps one of the best technical death metal songs of all time.

The sound of the album is quite gritty, definitely not polished at all. I do enjoy this sound for the album though, as everything is audible but not overproduced. It's a perfect 1990s technical death metal sound, one that I've come to know and love as I continue to delve deeper into this genre. The bass has a good sound, the guitars still have punch and the drums don't sound robotic. The vocalist has a John Tardy-esque rasp, and wails over the music with a lot of power and emotion and his vocals surely shouldn't be forgotten, as he puts on quite a unique display on this record. May he rest in peace.

Technical prowess was certainly not hard to come by in the mid 1990s, and Tempestas were among the many tech death bands to begin their short lived careers during this time period. It's a shame that we most likely won't ever see this band, or any incarnation of it again, as it seems most of the band members decided to do nothing else after Tempestas' existence came to an end. Still, what we do have is a virtuous display of intelligent musicianship paired alongside crushing heaviness. A gem of an album, lathered with multiple memorable songs to create a record that shouldn't be forgotten.

FFO: Death, Dissonance, Polluted Inheritance

Favorite song: 'Out Of Synchronism'

Rating: 8 out of 10