Terne I never thought I'd see a metal band adopt my mother's attitude toward music ("enough with the screaming already!"), but when I saw Terne's mini-bio describe them as being metal music without screaming, I was certainly intrigued. In practice, I found their music to be so much more than just metal, and although I'd certainly say their sound is genre-crossing, it still has a very distinct style.
I'll admit it was surprising to see such a range of sounds a band that calls themselves metal. Tinges of electropop mix in with heavy dubstep, and even rap in some places. On paper it sounds like maybe Terne need to make a decision as to what kind of band they actually are, but when you listen to the handful of songs they have on their YouTube channel, suddenly it all starts to make sense.
Take, for example, "Where ever you are" [sic]. If this had been the only song Terne ever put out, I wouldn't have guessed that metal was the sound they were going for. There's something industrial or maybe even Skrillex about it, but not anything I'd associate with metal. Move on to another song like "Stick to," however, and suddenly you start to see where they're going with all this, and how the various sounds they incorporate all fit together. "Stick to" does have a lot of things typically associated with metal - heavy guitars, a thrash beat, a double kick drum - but, as promised, there's no screaming.
The obvious reason behind the lack of screaming in Terne's vocals is that the singer actually has a good, solid voice. There's no need to screech your way through monotone vocal lines when you can make them sound much better simply by delivering them the old-fashioned way.
In short, there's a lot to recommend this band, and apparently they're putting out a full-length album later this year, to be released on Bandcamp. That's definitely something to look forward to, and it'll be interesting to see how they incorporate the songs they've already recorded with the others they have planned, what the balance of genres ends up being, and how it all works together. In any case, it'll certainly be one to check out, and if they play their cards right, Terne could be one of the surprise viral hits of this year.
--Brynn
http://terne.bandcamp.com/
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