Teramaze: Dalla Volta

Teramaze are an Australian trash metal, melodic metal, progressive rock band, fronted by guitarist and band founder Dean Wells, Chris Zoupa also on guitars, Andrew Cameron on bass, Nick Ross on drums, and vocalist Nathan Peachey (Trigger) who has collaborated with the band before and has been asked to rejoin permanently. Dalla Volta is their new upcoming album, a compilation of new songs, alternate versions of some classics, demo versions, and a cover.

The album opens with the song “Navigate in Solitude�, a song that grabbed from the get-go, heavy and full of hooks, a great song from which I like everything, even the pseudo- growling, a perfect collision between trash and melodic metal, a clear blueprint for what Teramaze does, my favorite song by far.

The band has released two singles in support of this output, one is an original and the other a cover… “Chaos in the Way� is the original song, pure melodic metal at its best, the riffing is hypnotic, and the vocal performance is outstanding, a great choice for a single. It is followed by the heavier and darker “These Crystal Walls�, well-crafted and executed, and even though the band isn’t doing anything different or new, is easy to slowly fall in love with their music, especially with the guitar tone and the drumming.

“Shadows II� is, according to the band’s own words, a reimagined version of the classic “Shadows� from their 1998 album Tears to Dust, it sounds better and has been added a minute of music in the form of heavy melodic metal, giving also extra time for the guitars to shine. “The Heist� was a single released in 2019 but not included in any album until now, is a good and catchy song with a furious rhythmic section and equally frenetic keyboards, a little saturated for my taste, but an undeniable hit for the band.

“Waves� and “Broken� are both piano versions of the original songs. Honestly these are not the type of songs I expect to hear when listening to a trash metal/melodic metal/progressive metal album, although I must mention that the guitar solo on Broken’s original version (Her Halo, 2015) is phenomenal. I guess that for hardcore fans these two songs might be a cool curiosity, to be able listen to them in a more naked version, but after listening to the first five songs on this compilation, they just feel out of place.

In regard to the 2017 Demo versions of the songs “Weight of Humanity�, “From Saviour to Assassin�, “Fight or Flight�, and “Are We Soldiers�, they sound heavier and darker than the ones that landed on their 2019 studio album Are We Soldiers, the guitars are higher in the mix and the vocals sound less commercial… as result, I vow for these earlier versions over the official output. I think that those songs were too polished and over produced for AWS, extracting the menacing aspect of the heavy music from them, and leaving purely the mainstream-accepted production values, and a lot of gut and feeling from the band was also lost, IMHO.

“Easy Lover� is the other single mentioned before, a cover if the pop classic from Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey. It’s an Ok cover where all has been preserved to sound like the original, but with the obvious heavy punch delivered by the band. The album is an enjoyable listen if you really like the band and the genre. Cheers.

Track list:
1. Navigate in Solitude (7:26)
2. Chaos in the Way (4:05)
3. These Crystal Walls (4:35)
4. Shadows II (Reimagined) (4:55)
5. The Heist (5:45)
6. Waves (Piano Version) (4:39)
7. Broken (Piano Version) (5:56)
8. Weight of Humanity (2017 Demo) (6:54)
9. From Saviour to Assassin (2017 Demo) (4:59)
10. Fight or Flight (2017 Demo) (5:39)
11. Are We Soldiers (2017 Demo) (6:55)
12. Easy Lover (5:14)

Added: April 8th 2023
Reviewer: Jose Antonio Marmol
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 1469
Language: english

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