By the End of Tonight & Tera Melos
Complex Full Of Phantoms
Houston instrumental metal quartet By The End Of Tonight (isn't that what emo band names sound like?) team up with likeminded Sacramento group Tera Melos for this split CD of detailed, maths-y prog metal. After the instrumental screamo miniature 'Delaware Is Depressing', BTEOT fire up with the fancy-pants riff switching of 'Philthy Collins' which only proves to get more outlandish over 'Jealous Of A Ghost's two-and-a-half minutes of excess, which is populated by sounds that at times suggest Master Of Puppets-era Metallica and at others over-cooked Dream Theater-style time changes and low-end noodling. Frankly it's all a bit much until the jazzy, vacant post-rock of 'Cold Hands' refreshes you with a bit of texture. By the time you get to the Tera Melos material the complexity factor actually increases yet somehow it's all far more compelling. Technically the Tera Melos instrumentation is probably that little bit more advanced than the BTEOT prog outings but on top of that the songs make more sense (possibly thanks to some vocals and weird horn contributions). Check out the frenzied two-handed tapping of 'Party With Tina' or the insanely intricate time changes of 'When Worms Learn To Fly' for some particularly impressive guitar contortions.
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Houston instrumental metal quartet By The End Of Tonight (isn't that what emo band names sound like?) team up with likeminded Sacramento group Tera Melos for this split CD of detailed, maths-y prog metal. After the instrumental screamo miniature 'Delaware Is Depressing', BTEOT fire up with the fancy-pants riff switching of 'Philthy Collins' which only proves to get more outlandish over 'Jealous Of A Ghost's two-and-a-half minutes of excess, which is populated by sounds that at times suggest Master Of Puppets-era Metallica and at others over-cooked Dream Theater-style time changes and low-end noodling. Frankly it's all a bit much until the jazzy, vacant post-rock of 'Cold Hands' refreshes you with a bit of texture. By the time you get to the Tera Melos material the complexity factor actually increases yet somehow it's all far more compelling. Technically the Tera Melos instrumentation is probably that little bit more advanced than the BTEOT prog outings but on top of that the songs make more sense (possibly thanks to some vocals and weird horn contributions). Check out the frenzied two-handed tapping of 'Party With Tina' or the insanely intricate time changes of 'When Worms Learn To Fly' for some particularly impressive guitar contortions.
Houston instrumental metal quartet By The End Of Tonight (isn't that what emo band names sound like?) team up with likeminded Sacramento group Tera Melos for this split CD of detailed, maths-y prog metal. After the instrumental screamo miniature 'Delaware Is Depressing', BTEOT fire up with the fancy-pants riff switching of 'Philthy Collins' which only proves to get more outlandish over 'Jealous Of A Ghost's two-and-a-half minutes of excess, which is populated by sounds that at times suggest Master Of Puppets-era Metallica and at others over-cooked Dream Theater-style time changes and low-end noodling. Frankly it's all a bit much until the jazzy, vacant post-rock of 'Cold Hands' refreshes you with a bit of texture. By the time you get to the Tera Melos material the complexity factor actually increases yet somehow it's all far more compelling. Technically the Tera Melos instrumentation is probably that little bit more advanced than the BTEOT prog outings but on top of that the songs make more sense (possibly thanks to some vocals and weird horn contributions). Check out the frenzied two-handed tapping of 'Party With Tina' or the insanely intricate time changes of 'When Worms Learn To Fly' for some particularly impressive guitar contortions.