To-Mera was formed by Julie Kiss and Lee Barrett (ex:Extreme Noise Terror / Disgust / Mussolini Headkick) following her acrimonious departure from the Hungarian progressive metal band Without Face (ex: Earache / Elitist recording artists). She felt that she still had a lot more to offer musically and set about finding like-minded musicians in order to persue that goal. Fellow Hungarian Akos Pirisi, a huge fan of Meshuggah and a master of polyrhythmics, was brought in on drums. Later Tom MacLean was found after he, a big Without Face fan, recognized Julie and introduced himself at a Dillinger Escape Plan concert. Tom graduated from the Trinity College of Music in London, where he studied Jazz guitar. Although a huge metalhead, His broad musical tastes are evident in his playing, and he constantly pushes himself to attain new levels of skill.
When all was finally in place, the band recorded their debut demo in July 2005 at The Peel rehearsal rooms (Kingston-Upon-Thames) on a laptop, and it was mixed in France by up-and-coming producer Brett Caldas-Lima (Kalisia / Malmonde / Fairlight).
After the demo was recorded, the band finally found a fulltime keyboard player in the shape of Hugo Sheppard. He has already contributed to the band's newer material, and his avant-garde, free-flowing style has added yet another dimension to To-Mera's sound.
The songs are worked almost literally around Julie's lyrics, adding flesh to the emotive, dark and esoteric bones. The mesmeric descriptive themes allow the listener a very personal look into a deeply multifarious mindset. The music as a result is a complex, heavy and at times heartfelt hybrid of powerful progressive metal, beguiling acoustic passages, enchanting keyboard soundscapes and unmistakable female vocals.
The demo was sent to many webzines and magazines, where universal acclaim was given. The band received "Demo of The Month" at Organ Magazine, Zero Tolerance magazine and Imperiumi.net (Finland). These, and many other, great reviews led to a number of interested record labels getting in touch. It soon became clear that Candlelight Records (Emperor, Opeth, 1349, Zyklon, Enslaved, etc) was the best choice for the band and a multi-album, worldwide deal was signed at the beginning of January 2006.
To-Mera will record their as-yet untitled debut album in May 2006, again with producer Brett Caldas-Lima.
Recording is expected to take place in Veszprem (Hungary) and London (England) for a release later in 2006. It promises to be an ambitious, epic, progressive and generally HUGE slab of forward-thinking metal.
Source: http://www.to-mera.com/
