Her Halo

The Australian Prog Metal band, Teramaze, have returned with their 5th album, Her Halo (Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group). This release features the debut of new singer, Nathan Peachey, and the bands new 'song first' direction.

Band leader and master guitarist, Dean Wells, has shifted the songwriting in the band to be much more conscious of the songs rather than just the musicianship prowess, citing that their music is all about the song as a whole and if the song needs a slow guitar solo with only three notes, then that's what the song shall have. This outlook has served the band well on Her Halo, allowing the band to expand their listener horizons and appeal to musicians and anyone else that likes good melodic, heavy, riff driven Prog Metal.

The title track is a well crafted and thoughtful tune that features a tranquil acoustic backed verse that then hits with some fierce melodic noodling from Wells as they lead you into the uber catchy chorus. Another standout offering is their opening magnum opus of 12 minute that quite literally takes you along for a slow and building ride through the subconscious that touches all the bases of a song and back again. Not to be out done, Dean Wells and company also drop a instrumental track which allows this guitar demon to melodically rip up his fret board and not just show off for wankery sake. Wells has a killer guitar tone and tasty chops to boot, if you like players in the John Petrucci vein but not as busy you will love Dean Wells.

Her Halo shows a more mature Teramaze and the 8 tracks contained here accurately convey this new maturity quite well. Some songs show us a new depth and complexity to their songwriting that wasn't there before. Her Halo is an excellent follow up to 2014's terrific Esoteric Symbolism and is natural progression for a band like Teramaze that is looking to continue to grow at their craft. Heavy, progressive and thoughtful along with stellar musicianship makes for a record that is begging to be checked out.

Orinigally written for https://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=17883