Review Summary: Wasted Potential
I'm completely down with Tera Melos wanting to be a pop band, or at least a math pop (?) band. In fact I think they could pull it off better than most bands. Nick's unique guitar playing style and technical ability suggests that he would be perfect for the role. His style just screams "FUN", but with that being said the biggest thing X'ed out makes me want to do is revisit their first album. Even with the band interjecting pop hooks the biggest draw X'ed out has to offer is the guitar playing. Tera Melos don't water down their sound in anyway with X'ed out and they're still as odd as ever so where is the problem?
Well it's vocals as you might have guessed. They aren't explicitly bad, just unnecessary. The band just seems to put them on top of their songs for the hook but they feel like an obligation. The best thing for the band would be to just pull out a crazy instrumental song, where they are free from vocals and can just go as crazy as they want. The band certainly tries but the ultimate problem is that most of the songs aren't catchy enough to warrant vocals. Moments like the post chorus of New Chlorine or the intro of Melody 9 are pure instrumental goodness. Tera Melos have always had this magic when it came to making mind blowing, and quirky music in the past. On X'ed out the band just can't capture it, because the one thing they add to their sound to enhance it ends up holding it back. Then there is the weird production, which just sounds---- wonky to be blunt. The guitars are blaring, the bass is nowhere to be found, drums are oddly quiet, and Nick's voice sounds off. It's not the death knell for the album but it definitely doesn't do it any favors.
Of course there are good points that aren't just instrumental. The odd groove in Slimed is done perfectly and Nicks singing over it actually quite appropriate. It's an example of where the rest of the songs should be quality wise. New Chlorine succeeds in having an almost really catchy chorus, which is something none of the songs really do, and it turns out being a great song overall. The moral of the story is that X'ed out would be much better if the vocals were used better, Tera Melos should be primarily be a instrumental oriented group, using vocals when necessary. Instead we just get an album with vocals splattered on every track, that certainly try to be catchy, but ultimately miss their mark and make for a letdown.
