Tempest Saint have quickly become one of the standout new names in the UK’s heavy metal scene. Formed in 2023 after a chance meeting at a Hemel Hempstead jam night, the band draw on classic 80s influences while pushing to create something that feels current rather than nostalgic. With their debut album Hyperbolized and a busy run of 2026 shows ahead, they spoke with us about their origins, their sound, and the path they’re carving for themselves.

Interview

TheNwothm: To start us off, how would you introduce Tempest Saint to someone who has never met you before? Who’s in the band and where do you come from?

James: I’d say we’re a mash up of all your favourite 80s bands of that era glued into one. There’s a load of Maiden, Priest, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Ozzy, Dio (amongst others) that we take influence from. As for the band, I’m the guitar player, Joe is the Frontman, Luke’s on Bass and Lee’s the stick-breaker in chief on drums. Myself, Joe and Lee are all from the same town of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, whilst Luke lives in Southwark.

TheNwothm: What first pulled you together in 2023? Was there a particular moment when you realised this group of people needed to form a band?

James: Well myself and Luke (alongside our former drummer Matteo) were previously in a band together that had just ended, and were looking for a singer to start something new. It was by chance that I saw Joe at our local Jam night in Hemel, and decided to ask him if he wanted to do Paranoid by Sabbath together. After that I figured we could all work together and have a proper jam, so that next week I drove him up to London for our first rehearsal to meet the others. I nearly didn’t go up that day on the jam night but my partner encouraged me to and I relented, maybe it was fate after all!

TheNwothm: The name Tempest Saint has a striking contrast to it. What drew you to that combination of words and what did you want it to signal about the band?

James: Naming a band is the hardest part of the process from experience. The music’s the easy part! It was Joe who actually came up with the name. I thought it sounded really original, and I was pleased to find we’re the first band in history called it!

Joe: The name came about quite slowly, over a few days. I toyed with a few ideas, trying to keep with the Pseduo-Religious themes of Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, etc. that are historically central to our genre. Eventually it materialized when the word “Tempest” got in my head during a gym session, I thought it sounded really strong, and the word Saint belongs to that religious lexicon that I was going for, and I thought it lent itself well as the missing half of the band name. Voilà! Tempest Saint.

TheNwothm: Hertfordshire and London each have their own character. How have the places you live, rehearse or spend time in shaped the attitude or identity of Tempest Saint?

James: We rehearse regularly in Sanctuary Studios in Watford so I find personally that Hertfordshire is what I associate with as home for me, I play less shows in my own area than I do outside of it; so all the creativity, the writing process I associate with here. I still feel like the same 14 year old me writing riffs in his bedroom, recording on his computer and making demos whilst trying to copy my favourite players. Hell, I even still have some of the same gear from back in the day! 

But I think its something to appreciate personally, as it gives it a sense of authenticity. Every riff I write comes from the same soul of that spotty teenage kid who wanted to be the next Van Halen!  And thats something I’m happy about, as I’m still trying to be myself and not someone else.  I find that on the flipside, London is where I most heavily associate with the social side of music, along with our own shows, we’re a part of the London Metal Coalition, and have a real bond with the community of bands within it.

TheNwothm: Heavy metal in the UK has a long history. Do you feel connected to any part of that tradition, or do you see yourselves carving out something separate from it?

James: I think it’s a tough one; its hard to be in a band that prides itself on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, from over 40 years ago and still try and see yourself as within that movement entirely.

I think that with dawn of the 21st century and the internet age, there isn’t truly a defining culture that myself and my generation can truly identify with; so both culturally and musically everyone is taking bits from different movements in the past here and there to form their own identity. Almost some kind of neo-nostalgia!

I find myself doing the same thing in my writing process. I’ll take little bits of influence here and there from anything from AC/DC, to Thin Lizzy, to Whitesnake. But in a way i think thats how all new movements and ideas are created; mixing together everything you like to create your own sound.

With many young bands these days marketing themselves as nostalgia pieces, I ask why are we not taking the reins to start our own movement of Heavy Metal? Instead of being nostalgic for days gone, we should be focusing on the here and now building communities and building the live music scene again, forging our own paths than trying to purely replicate bands of the past. There should be no next Judas Priest, there should be something new! That’s why as much as I take influence from the bands I grew up listening to, I want Tempest Saint to stand on our own merit, and be a band with a sound that can be appreciated in 2026!

TheNwothm: The UK metal scene is full of new bands finding their voice. Are there any emerging artists you’ve noticed or feel excited about?

James: I think despite my answer to the last question, there are so many bands up and coming that deserve new followers and fans. I’m a fan of The Rattlesnakes, Halberd, and Kardinal X. 

TheNwothm: Was heavy metal always on play growing up or did you star off on other styles such as pop etc?

James: I’ve always been a big fan of Blues and Blues Rock. Jimi Hendrix is still one of my favourite guitarists of all time. There was however a stint in my youth when I was a younger guitar student having to learn Stevie Wonder, Tower of Power and all the Nile Rodgers stuff. I still have an appreciation for Funk guitarists, as that’s such a difficult style to master!

Joe: In a similar way to James, my influences were actually adjacent to heavy metal, as opposed to the genre itself. I grew up listening to Queen, ACDC, Survivor, TOTO, Living Colour before eventually graduating to heavier stuff like Dream Evil, Judas Priest, Dio. When I was really small, I did find myself head banging to the stiff my older sisters would have on in the background on MTV at the time like Slipknot, Mudvayne and Drowning Pool so I guess it’s always been there really!

TheNwothm: Your first single, “Dead Ringer” in 2023, marked your arrival. Looking back, what story or feeling were you trying to capture with that debut?

James: When I wrote the riffs to Dead Ringer, being our first single, I wanted some elements of the anthems of the 80s. I found that being the only guitarist in the band I would have to change how I play for the choruses; there are no power chords to be found, Only big AC/DC styled distorted open chords, but I think thats what a lot of Metal songs these days are missing! 

I wanted the big build ups, the long solos and lead fills that I grew up worshipping as a kid. These were all the things that got me into Guitar and Heavy Metal in the first place.

Joe: I’ll keep my part of it short because I could stroke my own ego about the lyrics all day if I wanted to, in typical lead singer fashion, but the truth is dead Ringer is a simple Come together song lyrically, it espouses hatred for radical divisivism that so many people cling to, across lines that were drawn so long ago they become blurry under the feet of progress.