To-Mera
1. Dreadful Angel
2. Born of Ashes
The metal scene has thrown up a number of surprises this year, Opeth released a new album which for me totally changed the face of Opeth, Candlemass reformed and released probably one of the top 3 albums of 2005, Leaves' Eyes released their second album, bringing history to life with their music and Within Temptation finally released The Silent Force officially in the UK with Roadrunner Records and Iron Maiden took on the Ozzfest. There was obviously a lot more than just that but they are highlights that stood out to me, right up until a few days ago that is.
Twang from TotalRock kept telling me to check out this band, I finally gave into temptation one night and had a listen to the two tracks that To-Mera had to offer on their Myspace profile. I was expecting an average operatic female fronted goth band, how wrong I was, my jaw hit the floor as Born to Ashes started blasting out of my speakers. This is no operatic female fronted band, its a blend of progressive metal madness, fronted by one of the most beautiful harmonic voices of metal, Julie Kiss.
Although I've only heard two tracks, this band already is in my top 3 for this year, its new and its addictive.
To-Mera are a real breath of fresh air, combining the progressive styles of Opeth with blistering guitar riffage along the lines of Dillinger Escape Plan, the jazzy interlude styles of Ephel Duath and even a touch of folk reminiscent of Leaves' Eyes style on Vinland Saga. There is some thing for everyone in these tracks, from fast paced guitar and blast beating carnage to relaxed melodic ambient soundscapes and all blended with the exceptional voice of Julie Kiss.
Whats really interesting about this band is its not a super group of well known musicians, yet they still manage to produce music that in my opinion is ground breaking and sets new standards and rules for 2005.
The diversity is beyond anything done this year apart from maybe Opeth's latest release, the music blends and flow well, everything sounds well polished and nothing sounds out of place. What's really hard to believe is these tracks were recorded at The Peel (My regular place of drinking) In a rehearsal studio with a laptop, now thats metal! Obviously it was mixed else where, France to be exact but if you listen to the sound quality and production, you really couldn't tell that this wasn't recorded in one of the more well known studios of the world.
This band makes me question the standards of metal for the past few years, if 4 people can walk into a rehearsal room of a local pub with a laptop and produce music to the quality that they have, why in the hell are some of the huge signed names of the scene producing generic and mundane music?
To-Mera are part of the future for the metal scene, I really hope a lot more bands follow in their footsteps and stop being afraid of experimenting with their sounds.
In the mean time though, everyone check out this band if you have an open mind to music, if your an Opeth, Dillinger Escape Plan or Ephel Duath fan, this is right up your street and your time will certainly not be wasted.
If you want to hear To-Mera or check out what's going on with this band at the moment, drop by
http://www.myspace.com/tomeraband and say hey.
