SARGENT HOUSE

Tera Melos + Tangled Hair + Delta Sleep in Brighton at The Hope - June 7, 2011 

…Two pedal boards, housing more effects than you can shake a stick at are presented at the front of the stage. This ritualistic revealing is a commonplace at every Tera Melos show, signalling their imminent performance, and luring their fans back into the venue walls. This is an occurance that Britain hasn’t seen before at all though, with this being the first time Tera Melos have graced it’s shores in their whole seven years of existance, and for that reason many of their fans from this side of the pond are excited after waiting so long. Aural skull mashing begins with the screeching guitars of Nick Reinhart and pounding drums of John Clardy, all brought together by the equally effects driven bass rumblings of Nathan Latona. Despite the predictable absence of anything resembling dancing in the room whatsoever, the fans that came are getting everything they wanted, thrown at them from every direction they can keep an eye on. They belt out an impressive version of ‘Frozen Zoo’, see-sawing between dreamy and bare vocals that lay over mesmeric guitar work, and paranoid pulsations that thump the lyrics ‘Gonna get yourself, shot.’ into your brain like bullets themselves. Despite some hitches involving the mountains of equipment in current use, they manage to wade through and play a great set. For some it might have felt a bit too lengthy, but this clearly wasn’t the case for others, as the front of the crowd gives way to yells calling for them to play at least one more. After all of this is finally over, the hour and ten minutes of head scrambling mischief that’s just come to pass is a definite testament to why Tera Melos are one of the leading names of experimental rock in 2011.

Photography by Luke Kosta Semlekan-Tansey