Review Summary: Catchy, but inconsistent
After listening to
Tera Melos’ self-titled album I was wanting more. I looked them up and found
Drugs to the Dear Youth. The eclectic album cover reminded me of the 3 headless men walking with chainsaws, not to mention the green.
As soon as I pressed play I was reminded of
melody 1 with the noise loop. That all changed as instead of a slow, jazzy intro they assault you full barrels with what they do so well. Something was missing though: there was only one guitarist left. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and I didn’t hold it against them because they filled in the space so well.
After the brief intro the 8 minute long epic
40 Rods to the Hog’s Head begins with a tapping riff that stuns me every time. It cruises along as a generally up tempo, cheery song with some changes in tempo and excellent drumming. About a minute and a half into the song there is a quiet section where the drumming sounds out of place, almost intrusive. After this it trudges through the remaining 6 minutes with some memorable parts but could have been shortened a bit.
The flowing sound of
Guy Vs. D.C. Sniper is a welcomed change of tone for Tera Melos and there is nothing I would like changed about the song. It’s short, well done and slower than the usual Tera Melos material. The same can be said for
A Spoonful of Slurry. With the quirky little guitar bit in the intro it flows well into a cheery and up tempo section and never loses my attention.
The Werewolf and Ben, to me, sound as if they put 2 songs together and it worked to a degree. After the first 40 seconds it is a complete joy to listen to. The whole thing ends with the soothing
Is Good for What Ails You, a beautiful piece with keyboards, synth, guitars, bass and drums it sends the EP off on a wonderful note.
I find that it doesn’t fill that void that the self-titled album did. It felt a bit tacked together at points but was excellent at others; it wasn’t consistent enough.
Pros:
Tera Melos!
Fast guitar licks
Great Drumming
Catchy
Fresh
Cons:
Feels wrong at some points
Some background noises are harsh to the ear
Can be a bit overwhelming to listen to
40 Rods to the Hog’s Head is a bit too long
Werewolf and Ben intro
Doesn’t live up to previous release
Rating: 3.75
