Based in Melbourne, Australia, progressive metal band Teramaze are set to release their latest album, Eli: A Wonderful Fall from Grace, on May 24, 2024, under Wells Music. Known for their complex compositions and technical prowess, this release continues to build on the band’s established style.
Andrew Cameron, the bass player for Teramaze, discusses his choice of the Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 6 for the album. “I’ve been playing an Ernie Ball Music Man Bongo 6 for the longest time now and am proud to represent them on their artist roster,” he said. “The 6 string is where I’m most comfortable; I’ve been playing extended range basses for about 15 years, with the 6 string taking up most of that period of time. It’s not because we tune to anything ridiculously low, but I like having that economy of motion. Sometimes we have some pretty intricate instrumental sections where I have to play a wide range of notes, and it’s nice to not have to jump around the whole fretboard to reach them! I have a few Bongo 6’s that I use; most of the time you will see me with either a Stealth Pearl 6 HH or a Fuchsia Sparkle 6 HH. I chose the dual humbucker version way back in 2011 and have stuck with it ever since basically! I’ve been fortunate to use some incredibly nice basses on our last few albums but we were always trying to get that Music Man sound. So I decided why don’t we just use them? It was like coming back home after a holiday; sure, there are lots of nice basses out there, but every time I pick one of my Bongos up, it just feels right and sounds right for what we do.”
Cameron’s approach to achieving the right tone on Eli: A Wonderful Fall from Grace involved meticulous preparation and choice of equipment. “For this album we tried out a bunch of different preamps and amplifiers and ended up using a Darkglass M900v2, more as adding a flavour to the DI signal than anything else. We didn’t actually use any of the distortion from the amp,” he explained. “We spent a lot of time shaping the tone before we recorded it, not only with the bass but everything – guitars, drums, keys, you name it. So what you hear on ‘Eli: A Wonderful Fall From Grace’ is pretty close to what we initially recorded. When we play live lately, I’ve been running a Darkglass Microtubes Infinity which has been a great piece of gear; I don’t generally use too many effects like delays or chorus or whatever. I just need clean, crunch and a ridiculously overdriven sound, and I’m set for the night! If we get the luxury to use amplifiers, I will just bring my Darkglass M900v2 and my Bergantino NXV410 along for some stage sound and to get that feeling of a bass cab on stage. We play with in-ear monitors, so hearing ourselves isn’t an issue, but it’s hard to beat that feeling of bass on stage!”
Discussing his approach to composing bass lines, Cameron highlighted the organic nature of their songwriting process. “Writing Teramaze basslines is not as hard as they sound! Obviously, there are parts that can’t really deviate from what riff is being played. I try to listen to what the drums might be doing and the vocals especially to find a place to put a fill and provide another piece of ear candy for the listener that they might not have been expecting. I don’t really follow too much of a plan; we have been playing together for quite a few years now and Dean [Wells, guitarist and singer] and myself have recorded lots of music together, so we know what the other likes in terms of fills or grooves that might work in a section. Dean will play some really rough bass on the demos, and if I hear a bit I like or I think was cool, I’ll just steal it and claim it as my own!”
“There’s a lot of emotion in this album that I personally haven’t heard much of lately.”
Cameron expressed his excitement about the album’s release: “I’m excited for fans to hear ‘A Wonderful Fall From Grace’ in its entirety; we set out to really make this album feel like you were watching a film. For me, it’s a fresh feeling in the current modern progressive metal landscape; it’s a human-sounding album in the face of a lot of what is coming out at the moment. Yes, there are technical parts and long songs, but there’s a lot of emotion in this album that I personally haven’t heard much of lately. For this album, we had to look back in order to move forward. ‘Her Halo’ is where this story started back in 2015. I wasn’t part of the band then, but I remember hearing it for the first time and being blown away. I hope that we’ve done this story justice when fans finally get to hear it on May 24th.”
Eli: A Wonderful Fall from Grace by Teramaze is now available for pre-order.
