Release date: 25 July, 2025

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present the highly anticipated debut album of Italy’s TEMPTRESS, Catch the Endless Dawn, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Formed in 2018, Italy’s TEMPTRESS was founded by members of BUNKER 66, Children of Technology, Gargoyle, and Boia with the intent of giving free rein to their passion for the dreamiest and most melancholic heavy metal bands of the ‘80s – cult names such as Proud and Randy as well as the eternal Heavy Load and Gotham City, among others – without forgetting the darkness of such masters as Mercyful Fate, all seasoned with a genuine obsession for catchy and melodic choruses. Their journey into dreams began with the two-song The Orb 7” for DYING VICTIMS in 2019, which was later compiled onto the label’s Dying Victims vol. 2: Heavy Metal Attack CD collection in 2023.

Now, the sleepers have awoken, and arrive from dreamland bearing their debut album: Catch the Endless Dawn. Truly titled, Catch the Endless Dawn sees TEMPTRESS moving measuredly, daresay silkily, across soft-haze heavy metal high on moody melody, brisk but never busy in their gait. The band’s muse is most definitely OLD metal, but there’s subtlety and an almost-hushed sense of class to their songwriting and execution that elevates the record beyond the skinny-headband & flares hordes: the former always seems pensive even when the mid-tempo pulse picks up into a relatively reined-in gallop, and the latter similarly utilizes restraint in its favor whilst conveying the requisite amount of energy. Likewise, while the realm of dreams runs parallel to the realm of fantasy, TEMPTRESS possess a palatably more delicate side compared to the D&D side of traditional metal, (dream)weaving something both emotional and hypnotic – truly, the “Dream Metal” of which they so sing here. Thus, the aforementioned influences are apt, but so are the likes of early ‘80s Rainbow, April Wine, or even Blue Öyster Cult’s unsung dream-classic Club Ninja. Wake up and Catch the Endless Dawn!

Line-up:
D. Reemer – Bass
F. Blade – Guitars
M. Dee – Vocals, Drums

From Sicily, Italy

Artwork:
samuele_scalise

Review

“Beneath the Waves of Fantasia/Breathe the Dust of Time” opened the album, and as you might expect, is something of a tale of two songs. Beginning with a brief synth-laden introduction, before a nice storm of riffs burst out, soon accompanied by some vocals that reminded me of John Arch-era Fates Warning (aka, the best era of Fates). While there’s no clear cut end to the Fantasia portion of the track, by the time the vocals do drop in, it’s clearly dust breathing time. I found this one to be a pretty good way to kick-off the album, and while I don’t think it quite reached its potential, it wasn’t anything close to bad and certainly kept my ears.

“Dream Metal” followed and featured a silky smooth mid-tempo riff pretty much from the get-go. It was perfect for the good ole headbob, not quite a headbang, but still a compliment to the rhythm. Really found myself enjoying the raspy vocal delivery from M. Dee, it somewhat reminded me of Canada’s Antioch (which is high praise from me). This was a meaty beast of a track at a bit over 7 minutes, but it never felt long-in-the-tooth in the slightest. Riffs wise, this one reminded me a bit of the more extreme side of NWOTHM, with bands like Morgul Blade. There’s a pronounced black metal influence permeating the instrumentation, giving it a nice identity. Throw in a pretty catchy chorus, and you’ve got a real winner.

“Woman of the Dark” had a really stellar riff to open up that I couldn’t get enough of! Definitely in the running for Riff of the Year! Vocally, I found this to be similar somewhat to Ice War and a bit of Manacle (which I now realize is a lot of Canadian bands that Temptress is reminding me of). Ultimately, this one continued the album’s strong opening salvo with another great track, and one that didn’t sound like a mere copy-paste of a formula

“Catch the Endless Dawn”, the title track, was a more subdued affair than the tracks preceding it, but was by no means a slouch. It featured one hell of a solo from guitarist F. Blade, and some absolutely thundering drums from M. Dee. While I still can’t wrap my head around how any person is able to drum and sing, Dee does both well with a distinctive cadence to his voice and a nice sense of self with his drumming (if that makes any sort of sense).

“Awake the Enchanter” featured a decidedly heavier approach to its instrumentation. While nothing crazy, it was enough for me to recognize. Big Haunt vibes from this one too! Ooh, the complete shift about halfway through the track, wherein vocalist M. Dee sort of whispers, reminded me a lot of the late, great, Warrel Dane’s vocal style. Shoot, Temptress is easily hitting 5 for 5 right now, each track has brough something a little bit different to the table thus far.

“Fears Like Towers” kicked off with a proper banshee’s wail from Dee. The whole time this one played, I kept thinking it reminded me of someone, a modern band at that, but couldn’t put my finger on it. I did find this one to be the weakest track thus far, though I found the riffing to be among the strongest. So, I think this one will hit more for fans of guitarwork and pure riffs.

“Nightflight Over Dreamland” was a somewhat lengthy instrumental affair that featured some nice riffs, great drumming, and the smoothest locomotive basslines that I’ve heard in quite some time. As an Iron Maiden fanboy, I will always go giddy over bass that reminds me of a train. Gradually, the tension and pace quickens. The crescendo of an ending was simply glorious, but did make me feel like it was the album closer and not the penultimate track.

“She’s Cold” opened with, as to be expected by now, a real thundercrack of drums and a really slick riff. While not starkly different, the way the vocals are delivered here are just enough to set them apart from the rest of the album. There’s a certain glam metal catchiness to it, more Europe than Poison or Crüe. Incredibly melodic bridge section near the 3:30 mark, featuring more of Dee’s quiet singing and eventually a great riff where I could really feel the buildup. This was great, the final 30 or so seconds of it really ascend it to the next level. On the shortlist for best track of the year for sure.

Conclusion

I must admit, I went into this with a bit of apprehension and, dare I say, low expectations, but Temptress really exceeded those expectations from the moment I first hit “Play”. There’s a certain bit of cohesion to the album that I can’t quite explain or put into words, but every song really felt tethered to one another in a way that made them feel like equal parts to the same whole, instead of 8 songs thrown together to fill out a record. The variety of Temptress’ influences shine through all throughout, and some of those influences are ones that you don’t see get shouted out much in our little niche. This was a fantastic record, and one that I’ll be very happy to add to my collection.

TheNwothm Score: 9/10

Links

Bandcamp: https://temptressheavymetal.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/temptresshm/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/temptressheavymetal/

Label: Dying Victim Productions