Formed in 2004, Tera Melos is a three-piece from Sacramento, CA. Where most bands only claim to “bloom artistically” or “become more experimental,” Tera Melos’ growth and experimentation are constantly apparent—even tangible. In less than three years the band has gone from selling self-screened merchandise out of a $99 van to touring the nation nonstop. Their self-titled debut album is deep into its third pressing. Their self-released, vinyl EP of Drugs to the Dear Youth sold out in two weeks, prompting the band to do a formal release on CD. Quoted from a live Punknews.org review “One of the reasons, if not the biggest reason I went to see the Fall of Troy recently was so I could get my hands on a copy of the new Tera Melos EP.” Drugs to the Dear Youth, announces a new sonic world where Hella’s mathematics meet Don Caballero’s intricate riff-looping, kept exciting by a strange combination of Squarepusher’s jazzy ambience and Mike Patton’s cartoon-ish attention span. Nathan Latona (bass) and Vince Rogers (drums) start and stop with a precision that could control traffic, the perfectly precise rhythmic background for Nick Reinhart’s (guitar, programming) progressive songwriting. Reinhart’s technical abilities—the two-handed fretboard tapping, the neck-encompassing riffs—are augmented by his pedal work. He’s constantly sampling his guitar between bolts of delay, fuzz, and a battery of warp-sounds that explode from either side of the stage. Reinhart additionally mans a keyboard/sampler/drum machine bay, filling space with programming and samples from movies like Requiem For A Dream and pieces from Fugazi’s Instrument. Though many Tera Melos fans were barely 10 years old when Instrument came out, watching the younger spectrum of the audience mouth along to an Ian Mackaye sample proves the influence of Tera Melos. Fans obsess over this band, pouring over albums and Youtube videos, discussing live improvisations and literally memorizing the samples Reinhart triggers. The passion the band puts into its music and performance reflects back ten fold from the audience. 2007 finds Tera Melos joining the roster at Sargent House made up of experimental—yet addictive—artists like Rx Bandits, These Arms Are Snakes, Maps & Atlases, Russian Circles, Nurses and Daughters. These bands exist between genres, each reforming a piece of rock music’s broad fringe into their own oblique shapes. A Roster of talent this progressive is nearly impossible to find elsewhere in the industry. In September, Sargent House re-released Drugs To The Dear Youth on CD. A full US fall tour with Heavy Heavy Low Low will coincide with another new Tera Melos release: Complex Full Of Phantoms a five song split with By The End Of Tonight, coming out November 13th, 2007 on Temporary Residence (home to Explosions In The Sky and Rob Crow). There are few precedents for a band that works this hard, stays this independent, and makes music this crazy. In these ways Tera Melos is refreshing and comforting: a fearlessly adventurous band garnering attention from other artists, industry reformers, and music listeners across the world. It’s easy make the claim that anything is possible, but with Tera Melos you don’t just make that claim. You believe in it.
http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/58516.html
