PNW instrumental metal experiment. Tetrachromat is a 4-piece experimental metal band hailing from the Pacific Northwest. The band halts momentarily.
The quartet employ extended range instruments and layered guitar effects in their writing and performance, transcending the natural limits of standard-scale instruments. Tetrachromat consists of 8-string guitarist Frank Rowland, 6-string guitarist Nathan Malick, 5-string bassist Ethan Wilson and drummer Josh Pehrson. The band's sound is due in large part to influences and inspiration from contempo
rary progressive metal and experimental music, which both seek to blend a variety of different styles of music together into a single form. The following is an excerpt from Nate Kahn's October 8th live review published in Bellingham's What's Up! Magazine:
"The crowd becomes paused in a state of tranquility, soothed by the echo of beating rain drops reverberating through the foundation of the building. The white noise serves as a calm before the storm. A blizzard of monstrous rhythm approaches. Frank Rowland, rhythm guitarist and lead head banger for local prog-metal legacy Tetrachromat, straps on his menacing pitch black eight string guitar. Making his way through the now packed basement, lead guitarist Nathan Malick sports a gargantuan wooden platform filled with stomp boxes of all different shapes, sizes and colors. Malick is infamous for using his pedal board as an extension of his instrument, creating soaring distorted melodies that permeate the brutal chugging of Tetrachromat’s demonic cadence. The onslaught of alternative metal mayhem commences. As drummer Josh Pehrson smashes his cymbals in perfect time with five-string bassist Ethan Wilson, the crowd transforms from a collected karate congregation into a chaotic, body flinging mosh pit. As loyal fans agressivly shove each other in consensual rhythmic frenzy, a young bleach blond attendee is thrown into Pehrson’s drum kit, tripping over the bass drum and knocking over a ride cymbal. As the fallen mosher lifts himself off the ground, regaining his balance, the crowd chants his name “Chandler, Chandler, Chandler..” No feelings are hurt, no equipment is damaged, Malick grabs a microphone and subtly announces “Mosh safely!” After the friendly PSA, the band dives right back into the vigorous overdriven breakdown. Tetrachromat doesn’t announce names for their songs; however, each track has a unique arrangement of complex chord progressions and resounding synchronized thematic melodies. For headlining a show the night before at the Shakedown, the group brought an impressive amount of energy that invigorated the waterlogged church goers to a point of controlled insanity."
