Tera Melos is a band from Sacramento, California, that incorporates many styles of rock, jazz, ambient electronics and unconventional song structure all in one, to create their original genre. They are currently a four-piece (formerly four, then three, now four again), consisting of a guitarist/vocalist, bassist, drummer and a new guitar/keyboardist/vocalist added to the line-up. Although they have never released the meaning behind their name, tera melos is Latin for one thousand melodies and is most likely the origin of their name.
Tera Melos play a brand of music characterized by quickly alternating rhythmic patterns, start-stop dynamics, improvisation, two-handed tapping on the guitar, extended open-ended bridges, and the use of effect pedals and samplers. After releasing a four song demo, they self released their untitled debut full-length on October 4, 2005. The album comprises eight tracks, and was re-issued in 2008 on Sargent House. While some of the tracks on the album feature distorted vocals that are somewhat undecipherable, guitarist Nick Reinhart started contributing more prominent vocals to the music with the release of their 2007 split with By the End of Tonight, called Complex Full of Phantoms.