Measurements of the dynamic strength of aluminum and magnesium have been carried out through investigations of spall phenomena. In experiments, free-surface velocity profiles were recorded with a VISAR. The initial temperature of samples was varied from room temperature to that close to the melting point. The peak pressure in shock waves was varied from 5 to 50 GPa for aluminum and from 2 to 10 GPa for magnesium. The load duration was varied by more than an order of magnitude. Measurements showed precipitous drop in the spall strength of preheated samples as temperatures approached the melting point. No significant influence of the peak pressure on the spall strength was observed until a residual temperature after unloading of shock-compressed matter approached the melting. The strain-rate dependencies of the spall strength can be represented as power fimctions with an exponent of 0.059 for aluminum and 0.072 for magnesium. An empirical constitutive relationship has been established to describe the fracture rate as a function of the tensile stress, ultimate tensile stress that has activated a damage in the point, the damage value, and the temperature. The constitutive relationship was constructed on a base of analysis of the wave dynamics at spalling. Computer simulations show reasonably good workability of the model over a wide range of the shock load parameters and the temperature of matter.