Terakai

The Last Stand EP

Written by: BL on 28/10/2010 18:18:40

Terakai have been a band for the best of nearly two years and have already gone through what would break most young bands, the tragic death of a member earlier this year. Instead of folding however, the band went from strength to strength, going on tour to support their impressive debut EP "The Last Stand". While the band plays your fairly typical melodic metalcore through and through, there are lots of things within their makeup to seperate them from a lot of other bands in similar scenes which I will explain in more detail shortly.

For most of the EP, Terakai are just ear pleasingly melodic. The chord progressions are fairly simple but allow the guitars to weave in all sorts of tapped leads, some wicked guitar solos and fiery riffs - the end result sounding a lot more textured and 'epic'. Breakdowns do appear once in a while, but other than in the final track, have a nice rhythm to them and carry the action well without feeling too disjointed or pointless. The EP begins with "Intro", and other than having a really plain title, is actually more than just a breakdown or quick instrumental warm up - it's actually a pretty cool song in its own right. "Divinity Restored" following straight after is where the band really get things going though, fast and well executed technical riffing combined with the odd blast beat drumming, a majestic guitar solo (something I think this genre is starting to miss) and a big chorus are the other highlights.

Following on, "What Was Once Light" and "Reflections Of The Past" are the showpieces of the EP with some great shredding guitars, super slick leads and some catchy choruses (the latter song in particular being particularly memorable all round and my pick of the bunch). Closer "Welcome To The Grave" is the most different song out all of them, and is the heaviest song with big mean breakdowns all over the place and has a lot more dissonance used in the chugging guitars. While it does mix it up a lot more for the band, standing next to the songs before it doesn't seem as impressive as more a little too forced I think - heavy almost for the sake of needing a super heavy song in there. I much prefer to hear more of the band's take on combining classic metalcore in the vein of Killswitch Engage with the likes of some modern British melodic hardcore/metalcore such as While She Sleeps and Heart In Hand like the earlier songs.

All things considered though, what you have here is a competent, enjoyable, and importantly a replayable debut from Terakai. "The Last Stand" certainly holds its own against some of the heavyweights of the genre and can pack a mean punch while displaying some explosive flair (the tapped intro of "What Was Once Light" and the solo from "Reflections Of The Past" are brilliant if you ask me). I personally had no real problems getting into "Welcome To The Grave" as I might have made out, but I can see some being put off by the awkward dissonant nature of it (despite the short doses of clean vocals present in it still). Beyond that, "The Last Stand" is a very promising debut to start what could be something great for Terakai.

Download: Divinity Restored, What Was Once Light, Reflections Of The Past
For the fans of: Killswitch Engage, While She Sleeps, Heart In Hand
Listen: Myspace

Release date 05.05.2010
Self-Released

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