Previously instrumental, Tera Melos started playing with vocals on Complex Full of Phantoms (Temporary Residence), a split CD with instrumental metal band By the End of Tonight; their instrumental history is documented on Drugs to the Dear Youth (Springman), now released on CD for the first time (it was previously only available on vinyl). A full-length album is reportedly in the works.
The trio, Nathan Latona (bass), Vince Rogers (drums), and Neil Reinhart (guitar/programming/vocals) is careful to write songs in a way that allows for variation. “When we play live, we play songs,” says Reinhart. “They’re written and structured to a degree that leaves a lot of room for improvisation. In the studio, we’re trying to record the song, what everything else is a variation of. But it’s not always that cut and dried.”
This sort of interplay is a common jazz technique, but Reinhard says that he found his inspiration for improvisation elsewhere, I always liked the idea of jazz, but . . . it’s not that I don’t enjoy it, but it’s something I like as an idea more than I like to listen to it. Vince is really into jazz, though. Nathan and I had always played in punk bands. I must’ve been 17 or 18 when I saw Hella and Dillinger Escape Plan. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen. It was one of those ‘wake-up’ moments. There was all this rhythmic play, but it was just so extreme.”
Although they’ve only recently added vocals to the mix, Reinhart notes, “We never set out to be an instrumental band. We started playing shows to get the word out; we always wanted to get a vocalist. We finally decided that if we wanted the vocals to be part of this music we’re making, it should come from us. The ones making the music. I’m really happy about the vocals on Complex Full of Phantoms. I think it represents the direction we’re going.”
If these two works are indicators of Tera Melos’s trajectory, that full-length album can’t come soon enough.
-Lyam White