TEMIC ‘Ceiba’

TEMIC
Ceiba
Season Of Mist

What the international prog-metal “super group” TEMIC may lack in genuine household names, it more than makes up in formidable chops to go along with impressive pedigrees that speak to the quintet’s bone fides. 

Neal Morse Band guitarist/vocalist Eric Gillette, who also played with Mike Portnoy’s SHATTERED FORTRESS, is probably the most prominent figure here. Ex-HAKEN keyboardist Diego Tejeida, who also played with SHATTERED FORTRESS and Devin Townsend’s band, and SHINING/EVERGREY drummer Simen Sandnes may also be familiar to some folks. But together with MARATON vocalist Fredrik Klemp and WITHEM bassist Miguel Pereira, the band has crafted a fairly massive and quite impressive second album with ‘Ceiba’ that should help raise their respective profiles moving forward.

As convenient benchmarks, with ‘Ceiba’ TEMIC combines DREAM THEATER-like dexterity and sprawl with LEPROUS-like pulsing rhythms, disarming melodies and occasional warbliness and mixes in jarring djenty forays and imposing heaviness for something that is at once technically dazzling, engaging and downright powerful. Add a narrative thread that ties everything together, and TEMIC delivers a prog-metal total package that more than lives up to its considerable ambition.

‘Ceiba’s’ concept, which per the promo materials is “about loss in all its various forms,” provides a perfect foundation, as its explorations of “pain, anger, fear, blame and silence” make for natural jumping off points for the many peaks, valleys and side trips the music takes along the way. 

The Ceiba tree, which in Mayan culture is considered sacred for its connection to the earth, heaven and the underworld, is shown on the cover art being split by alightning bolt. The album’s eerie prelude “Asunder” takes it from there, opening with a thunderclap and muted, tell-tale narration“… for it begins / The pilgrimage through loss …”

“Ashes” sets the journey into motion in fittingly, well, thunderous fashion, with Gillette’s ripping solos and some jarring, PANTERA-like hooks offset by Klemp’s disarming vocals. Things then wane with the calmer, more restrained “Beyond The Voice,” which still offers a sweeping chorus and some more lead pyrotechnics from Gillette before its almost wispy finish.

The real progginess emerges with “Ceased to Be” and its chunky, djenty start, ethereal verses, jammy mid-section and Sandnes’ jazzy, shuffling tempo, echoing vintage OPETH to a degree – but without any growling. At roughly 6:30, it hints at the even more epic tracks to come.

Before that, though, is “Broken,” a sparse ballad notable for its relative minimalism, save for Klemp’s stirring vocals. It is a calm before the storm as everyone is soon back in the pool with a vengeance on the 9:16 “Casting Stone” and its turbulent riffs and tempo, ebullient synths and djent-meets-sci-fi instrumental break where MESHUGGAH-like heft is contrasted by “pew-pew” laser gun effects.

“See Myself” is the album’s most consistently heavy track, as Klemp’s vocals employ distortion to match the raw power of Gillette’s drop-tuned riffing and Pereira’s emphatic bottom end. Gillette’s agile soloing once again dazzles here, and the clean choruses are as monumental as elsewhere.

Like “Broken,” “Night Of Veils” serves as something of a segue. Its serene vocals and keyboard/aching guitar accompaniment lead into the towering, Bic-flickable power ballad “Alone.” And though it has a degree of cheesiness, the song is not without some resonant grimness that we can perhaps all relate to. To wit: “I don’t want to feel this way, I’d rather feel nothing at all.”

“As Long As We Last” closes ‘Ceiba’ with surprisingly subtlety, despite its substantial 10:21 girth. Instead of saving it as a final salvo, with everyone trying to get in their last licks, so to speak, the band keeps things tightly wound. The slow, steady build does grow to a bombastic conclusion but never descends into a parade of wankery along the way.

Indeed, though ‘Ceiba’ clocks in at a rather weighty 66 minutes overall, it rarely if ever feels over-indulgent or long-winded, which again speaks to seasoning and savvy of what is essentially a sideband by a group of made up of largely of mercenaries – no disrespect intended. But with their great musicianship, crafty songs and a compelling narrative, TEMIC deliver a prog-metal master class here that both demands and deserves attention.

4.5 Out Of 5.0