Tera Melos | |
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 Tera Melos live at SLO Brewing Co. in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sacramento,California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2004–2018 (hiatus) |
| Labels | |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | teramelos |
Tera Melos is an Americanmath rock band fromSacramento, California, formed in 2004. They incorporate many styles of rock,ambient electronics and unconventional song structures.[1] They are currently a three-piece, consisting of founding members guitarist-keyboardist-vocalist Nick Reinhart and bassist Nathan Latona, and drummer John Clardy, who joined the group in 2008.[1] Tera Melos play a brand of music characterized by quickly alternating rhythmic patterns, start-stop dynamics, improvisation,two-handed tapping on the guitar, extended open-ended bridges, and the use ofeffects pedals andsamplers.
The band formed in 2004 after the breakup of Nick Reinhart and Nathan Latona's former band No Regard. Jeff Worms and Vince Rogers joined shortly thereafter. Tera Melos rehearsed for nearly a full year before choosing to debut live.[2] The band had initially intended to recruit a vocalist but did not settle on one and chose to carry on as an instrumental band for the next several years. After releasing a four-song demo, their untitled debut full-length was released on October 4, 2005. The album is composed of eight instrumental tracks. In 2010, it was re-issued onSargent House. While some of the tracks on the album feature distorted vocals that are somewhat undecipherable, guitarist Nick Reinhart started contributing more prominent vocals to the music with the release of their 2007 split withBy the End of Tonight, calledComplex Full of Phantoms. The album was named one of the most overlooked albums of 2005 byAP magazine.[2]
Right before they started recording their second EP,Drugs to the Dear Youth, guitarist Jeff Worms left the band. On January 19, 2007, Tera Melos released the EP onSargent House. CalledDrugs for short, the EP took a step away from the band's previous sound into moreprogressive and original territory.[3] They then embarked on their first national tour.
Later in the year, the band contributed five songs to a split EP with theHouston, Texas band By The End Of Tonight. Released onTemporary Residence Limited,Complex Full of Phantoms was the first release to feature prominent vocals in Tera Melos songs. Tours with By The End Of Tonight andFacing New York followed.
Tera Melos announced on theirMyspace page on April 2, 2008, that drummer Vince would be leaving the band to pursue other things after their Spring tour. He now performs a solo drum act using a sequencer under the name the Blank Reference. He is also a member ofMarnie Stern's band. Tera Melos began searching for a new drummer, and after six months announced the addition of John Clardy. Prior to Vince's departure, the band had been planning a long-awaited LP release after touring; however, plans for a full-length were delayed. In the meantime they ended up releasing an EP of covers, featuring songs bythe Beach Boys andPolaris, entitledIdioms, Vol. I.
The band resumed live activity again in January 2009 and toured with the likes ofRX Bandits,These Arms are Snakes, andMelt Banana, in addition to headlining tours of their own.
Tera Melos have developed a cult-like fan base around the United States, ultimately gaining some popularity in Europe, Asia, and South America.[4] In September 2009, theDrugs to the Dear Youth EP and Tera Melos songs from theComplex Full of Phantoms split were combined into the releaseDrugs/Complex on Parabolica Records in Japan. October 2009 saw the band perform an 8-date headlining tour of Japan, and were subsequently featured in the DVDParabolica Jam '09.[5]
On November 7, 2009, Tera Melos confirmed a new album due out in 2010 in a Myspace bulletin. The post stated that the band was set to begin recording the next day. The new album, titledPatagonian Rats, was released on September 7, 2010.[6] The band toured extensively throughout North America and Europe in support of the record, playing with bands such asMaps & Atlases andMarnie Stern.
The band embarked on a briefWest Coast tour with the recently reunitedFirehose in April 2012.[7]
On January 17, 2013, along with the release of a new song "Tropic Lame", Tera Melos announced their new LPX'ed Out, which was released by Sargent House on April 16.[8][9] Tracks from the album "Sunburn" and "Bite" were later released as singles. The band once again toured extensively in Europe, as well as a tour with Sargent House label-matesTTNG in the United States.
The band supportedMinus the Bear on their West Coast dates. They have also since done extensive touring in 2014 traveling withThe Dillinger Escape Plan, and then again withPinback.
During many of their 2014 shows they performed "Dyer Ln" and "Don't Say I Know", both of which would not see a release until 2017'sTrash Generator.
Nick Reinhart was featured onDeath Grips' instrumental albumFashion Week, as well as disc 2 of their double albumThe Powers That B and their fifth albumBottomless Pit.
In the final months of 2016, Tera Melos returned to the studio to record their first full-length album sinceX'ed Out. Drummer John Clardy left theSchool of Rock ofSouthlake, Texas as the band finished sessions for a brand new album entitledTrash Generator. Before the album released, they toured withChon andCovet, where they would perform "Treasures and Trolls", which appeared later as a single. The album was released on August 25, 2017, and typically received positive reviews. The band went on a U.S. tour that October withSpeedy Ortiz.
"Treasures and Trolls", despite already having a presence in their setlist, did not release until late 2018—a full year after the album. The single also released with a B-side featuringRob Crow and a digital bonus track, both of which were from the album's sessions. During 2018, Tera Melos went on a headlining tour withMouse on the Keys and supportingMinus the Bear on their farewell tour. For personal reasons, Nathan had to cancel his appearances on the tour and was filled in for by long-time friend and contributor Pat Hills.
During a 2021 live-stream, Nick Reinhart stated that the band members have been in contact with one another, but haven't seen each other for some time due to Nathan and John living in Europe. This has left the band on an indefinite hiatus.[citation needed]
Recently, Nick Reinhart has gone on tour with Death Grips in place of Andy Morin. It's presumed Andy left the group, although this is unknown.
Tera Melos's sound is labeled asmath rock,[10]experimental rock[11] andpunk jazz,[12] with influences fromprogressive rock andpost-hardcore.[13]AllMusic critic Jason Lymangrover wrote that the band melds "the aggression of punk with the technical intricacies of prog rock," using "jerky shifts in time signatures and disjointed guitar noodling with a close resemblance toDon Caballero andHella." The band's music also featurestapped guitar parts, as well as angular bass riffs and splintered spazz-jazz drumming, complemented withambient electronics and sparse vocal lines.[14]
Starting withPatagonian Rats in 2010, the band began to infusepop elements and harmonic singing to their sound,[15][16] "making a shift from unconventional song structures ofambient-indebtedpost rock to hyper-technicalguitar pop."[17] Their third albumX'ed Out (2013) incorporated influences fromskate punk,dream pop, andproto-emo.[13]
Timeline
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