Draft:Teramaze

Teramaze is an Australian progressive metal band from Melbourne. The band was formed in 1993, disbanded in 2006, and reformed in 2008.

History
The band was founded in 1993 by guitarist Dean Wells as a teenager. The lineup was completed by singer Brett Rerekura, guitarist Adam Burnell, bassist Matthew Ritchie, and drummer Antonio Paulo. In 1995, they released their debut album Doxology. The following year, the band contributed the songs Generation X, Ever Enhancing, and Emancipator to the Falling On Deaf Ears – Australian Metal Compilation No. 4 sampler by Rowe Productions.

In 1998, their next album Tears to Dust was released, featuring singer Clinton Johannes and guitarist Adam Wilkie as replacements for Burnell. In 2001, they released the EP Not the Criminal through CMC International, which consisted of live and studio recordings. The band disbanded in December 2002 but was revived by Wells in 2006. In mid-2008, the compilation album Anthology was released through Jellyfisch Records. In the same year, a demo was also released. In 2009, the band began working on their next album with producer Jeff Waters. In June of that year, drummer Julian Percy had to stop his activity due to heart problems and passed away on June 15. Jayson Sherlock joined temporarily as a replacement. The album was released in April 2012 under the name Anhedonia through Nightmare Records, still featuring Julian Percy on drums. Afterward, vocalist Brett Rerekura, who had already left the band in 1997, returned to the lineup. In 2014, their next album Esoteric Symbolism was released. After Rerekura left the band again, he was replaced by Nathan Peachey, and bassist Luis Enrique Eguren and keyboardist Dave Holley joined as new members. In December of that year, they started working on their next album. In 2015, the album Her Halo was released. The single "Out of Subconscious" was released from the album.

With Rerekura back to duties on vocals, they released Are We Soldiers in 2019, described by reviewer Dave Griffiths from Heavy Magazine as "nothing short of amazing", counting Teramaze as "one of the most exciting bands in Australia".

Teramaze were scheduled to participate in ProgPower USA in 2017 but were replaced by Seven Spires after their cancellation. . They headlined the final day of the ProgPower Europe 2023 Festival in the Netherlands in 2023.

Style
According to metalmusicarchives.com, the band plays progressive and melodic thrash metal. The band itself states that they have been influenced by groups such as Dream Theater, Tool, and Pantera. Singer Brett Rerekura cites Layne Staley, Devin Townsend, Sebastian Bach, and Maynard James Keenan as major influences, while guitarist Dean Wells has been influenced by John Petrucci, Marco Sfogli, Jason Becker, and Marty Friedman. Esoteric Symbolism has been compared to the music of Anubis Gate. In his Encyclopedia of Australian Heavy Metal, Brian Giffin described the music as Christian-influenced progressive metal. Tears to Dust is quite melodic and resembles material from Queensrÿche.

Frank Trojan from Rock Hard described the music of Tears to Dust as "awesome old-school heavy metal, in the style of Pretty Maids, Dio, or Leatherwolf." The group presents themselves as mid-tempo and melodic, focusing more on "sophisticated arrangements and well-structured melodies" rather than speed. Occasionally, similarities to Hammerfall can be heard. Marcel Rapp from Powermetal.de categorized Anhedonia as progressive metal with elements of thrash metal. He also noted that the group demonstrates a "great sense of instrumental harmony, crushing heaviness, meaningful ideas, and song structures." In a later issue of Rock Hard, Michael Rensen reviewed Her Halo and wrote that the music encompasses both semi-modern progressive metal that focuses on riffs and groove, as well as "epic power metal, neoclassical symphonic bombast, or melodic metal vocals." In terms of song structures, sonic landscapes, and technical playing level, the group can be compared to bands like Shadow Gallery, Dream Theater, Kamelot, or Symphony X, but the songs lack their own identity, "despite first-class arrangements, varied chord progressions, and flawless vocals." In the atmospheric passages, the group is reminiscent of Vauxdvihl.

Discography

 * 1995: Doxology (Album, Empire Records)
 * 1998: Tears to Dust (Album, Rowe Productions)
 * 2001: Not the Criminal (EP, CMC International)
 * 2008: Demo 2008 (Demo, self-released)
 * 2008: Anthology (Compilation, Jellyfish Records)
 * 2012: Anhedonia (Album, Nightmare Records)
 * 2014: Esoteric Symbolism (Album, Nightmare Records)
 * 2015: Her Halo (Album)
 * 2019: Are We Soldiers (Album)
 * 2020: I Wonder (Album)
 * 2021: Sorella Minore (Album)
 * 2022: Flight of the Wounded (Album)
 * 2023: Dalla Volta (Compilation Album)