By the End of Tonight / Tera Melos - Complex Full of Phantoms

By the End of Tonight / Tera Melos
Complex Full of Phantoms
Temporary Residence Ltd.
Grade: A-

This is a sweet little split record from two of the up-and-coming and emerging groups in the instrumental rock world – By the End of Tonight and Tera Melos. BET first hit the consciousness with their superb EP Fire on Ice, where their metal version of Explosions was a sonic love fest of awesomness. BET’s debut full-length on TRL – A Tribute To Tigers – was strong but paled in comparison to the EP. This split is the Texas band’s first new material since Tribute and excels in ways far superior to past efforts. Through BET’s six songs, the band merges their more metal instrumentals with narcotic melodic sections, bits of ambience, and smidgens of Nintendo play. Among the highlights are “Philthy Collins” with a melodic section to die for, the speed rocker “Ghost Boat,” and the strong “Elvis Never Didn’t Die.” Beyond name recognition, I didn’t know much about Sacramento’s Tera Melos. But that ignorance soon was replaced by the joy of listening to their five numbers on Complex Full of Phantoms. Unlike BET, TM includes vocals to fill out their sound, but still in a minimalistic manner. Less heavy and more spastic punk than BET (not unlike a crazy Cap’n Jazz), the songs to ride include “Party With Tina,” “When Worms Learn to Fly,” and the extended closer “Last Smile for Jason.”