Tera Melos

Tera Melos is a band from Roseville, California, that incorporates many styles of rock, jazz, ambient electronics and unconventional song structure all in one, to create their original genre. They are currently a three-piece (formerly four), consisting of a guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist, bassist, and a drummer.

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 of effect pedals and samplers. After releasing a four song demo, they self released their self-titled debut full-length on October 4, 2005. The album comprises eight tracks, and was re-issued in 2008 on Sargent 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 with By the End of Tonight, called Complex Full of Phantoms. The band no longer plays songs from this album during live shows, as they require 2 guitar players to execute the songs.

Right before they started recording their second EP Drugs to the Dear Youth, one of the guitarists, Jeff Worms, left the band. It is rumored that Worms left to pursue a career in college football. This has been confirmed by Worms, although he has not cited what college he is currently playing for. On January 19, 2007, Tera Melos released the LP on Sargent House. ‘Drugs’ for short, was a step away from the previous sound they had before and farther into more progressive and original regions.

Tera Melos have over the past few years, developed a cult-like fan base around the United States and have recently gained some popularity in Japan, United Kingdom, and various other European countries.

Tera Melos announced on their MySpace page on April 2 2007, that drummer Vince would be leaving the band to pursue other things. The band currently still has a new album on the horizon and began searching for a new drummer after Vince's departure. Vince left to pursue the career of a college math professor. After a bit more than a year, the band announced the addition of John Clardy as their new drummer. Originally the band had planned a long-awaited LP release after touring, however they ended up releasing an EP of covers, featuring songs by The Beach Boys and Polaris, entitled Idioms, Vol. I.

Although they have never released the meaning behind their name, there are a few theories of the origins. One being that "Tera Melos" is an anagram for "A Molester". Also, that "Tera Melos" could be Latin for "Terrible Melodies." It is also rumored that the name is a play on the word "Watermelon" thought up by ex-guitarist Jeff Worms in the early days of the band. This is the most commonly believed, accepted, and some say verbally confirmed by Nick himself. However, just recently on the official Tera Melos forums, Nick himself called bullshit on all above mentioned theories, Quote: "as far as what tera melos means- it's the number of times al pacino says "the" in godfather II". Also, that "Tera Melos" could be Latin for "Terrible Melodies," which has been confirmed in various instances.

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, November 8. The new album, titled Patagonian Rats, is set to be released September 2010.

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