[An earlier version of this review appeared on
\nHouseofshred.com in 2001]<\/p>\n
Tempest, as a band, is a little hard to describe. They play folk
\nsongs, but they are not a folk band. They rock out, but they’re
\nmuch more than a rock band. Think of them this way; take some
\nJethro Tull and Kansas, throw in a dash of Led Zeppelin, and have
\nthem play Celtic and Norwegian folk music flavored with metal and
\nbluegrass. Sounds like kind of a mess but it really works. Call it
\nworld music if you like, though it’s a little strange to put that
\nhandle on a bunch of guys from Oakland, California. Well, okay, the
\ndrummer is Cuban and the frontman is Norwegian. In any case, they
\nare highly talented and imaginative musicians who seamlessly blend
\na morass of musical genres into a fluid blend of eclectic, exciting
\nmusic.<\/p>\n
Frontman Lief Sorbye leads Tempest with smooth yet passionate
\nvocals and a sizzling double mandolin. Sorbye is a very capable
\nsinger with a husky tenor voice, and he has perfected his
\nparticular style through near-perpetual touring and live
\nperformances with Tempest (and the Tempest side project Caliban).
\nThe production on this disc give a natural feel to his vocals, like
\nsitting in a pub or the market square listening to him, as opposed
\nto the often over-produced digitally modified vocals that are the
\nnorm on most recording these days. One gets the impression not of a
\nrock singer, but of a tavern minstrel who plays for the love of the
\nmusic (and perhaps a pint of ale), as opposed to riches and fame.
\nHis natural vocal style helps accentuate the flavor of the
\nold-world lyrics and melodies that form the core of their
\nsound.<\/p>\n
Guitarist Todd Evans and fiddler Jim Hurley work around Sorbe’s
\nmandolin to create energetic swirling patterns that run from soft
\nlyrical patois on songs like “Wicked Spring” and “Journeyman,” to
\nfiery metallic intensity on “Dance of the Sand Witches” and the
\nAppalachian-bluegrass infused “Battle Mountain Breakdown.” Bassist
\nWilliam Maxwell and drummer Adolfo Lazo provide the solid
\nfoundation required to back up the diverse collection of sounds
\nthat Tempest explores.<\/p>\n
On
\nBalance<\/i>, Tempest offers up an outstanding set of their
\nprivate blend of Euro-centric folk music and string-oriented
\nprog-rock. The way they muddy the boundaries between musical genres
\nis part of the appeal of this band.
\nBalance<\/i> is indeed an apt title, as all of their many
\ninfluences co-exist in equal measure, where the whole is far
\ngreater than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6086],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38005","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-tempest","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38005"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38005"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}