Don’t miss Tera Melos on tour now see all Dates & Details HERE
Live Review:
Before delving into a set of melding together chaos and harmony, Tera Melos guitarist Nick Reinhart grabbed his microphone to yell “DENTAL PLAN!” at the crowd. A few hesitant Simpsons fans immediately understood the reference, mumbling back to him, “Lisa needs braces!” It is no secret Tera Melos are some of the biggest Simpsons fans. Their gear is covered in memorabilia and their merch is often printed with select characters from the show. Just like The Simpsons, Tera Melos has created their own universe from scratch. For Tera Melos, horror and the absurd collide. A Halloween decoration of a man hanging on fishhooks from his eyelids sat on the edge of the stage. While not “present” for this tour, fan favorite Hot Dog Man was projected on the screen behind the band (most recently featured in the Sunburn music video). Most important to the Tera Melos universe, is their unparalleled sound.
Kicking off the set, Reinhart began shredding some incredibly wonky riffs, while simultaneously manning his expansive pedal board. Without so many of these pedals, there is no way Tera Melos could achieve their unique, alien sound. After the preluding guitar freak out, the band began playing full songs. Most of the set consisted of cuts from their latest album, X’ed Out. While the songs off X’ed Out tend to be more reserved compared to older Tera Melos material, the band kicked these songs into a higher gear for a live setting. For the whole night, drummer John Clardy seemed to be adding as many fills as possible as fast as he could, while keeping up with incredibly technical rhythms. Watching Nathan Latona’s bass playing was equally exciting, watching him effortlessly walk his fingers up, down, and even off the fret board.
Tera Melos graced the audience with a couple new songs. While X’ed Out felt like Tera Melos was relatively experimenting with a more minimal sound, these new songs sound more technical, akin to Patagonian Rats. The highlight of Tera Melos’ set might have been Patagonian Rats’ single “Frozen Zoo”. Watching the process of this song being played was way more fascinating than it sounds on record. Reinhert began the song looping noisy, seemingly random riffs. Slowly these riffs began to compliment each other, forming a coherently beat and melody. That is the very essence of Tera Melos: the unsuspectingly weird coming together to create something great. - See All photos and Full show Review HERE
Written By Joe Sansone and Nina Corcoran
Photos by Nina Corcoran