Terrarequiem

Terrarequiem was formed at the end of the Cold War, around the later half of 1989. Variously termed 'Psychedelic Punk Rock', 'Surrealist Punk', 'Cyberpunk', 'Artpunk', 'Experimental Punk', 'Manic-Depressive Thrash Metal', & 'Drugrock', the band drew its influences from many different circles.

The initial concept of the band came from the then art school student, Dr. Terse, a fine artist/Mad Scientist-type who was, at the time, heavily wrapped up in the world of DADA & Surrealism, 1950s Beat Poetry, 1960s Psychedelic poetry, mythology, cognitive psychology, eastern Zen Philosophy, and Western Existentialism. A skateboarder, with creds & placings in the then happening Eastern Skateboarding Association (E.S.A.), Dr. Terse came from the world of Skaterock, Punk Rock, Sonic Youth Drugrock and early Gothic Rock.

Dr. Terse, vocalist, wrote all of his lyrics as poems. The name "Terrarequiem" came from the title of one of his poems, and was a self-styled concatenation, used to evoke images of "a large-scale death mass for the Earth". When future member, Cemetery Rob, said, "Wow, that would be a great name for a band!", the idea stuck, and when the time came, and the bands name was narrowed down to like-minded Arnt Rikardsens suggestion of "Soul Razer", a wonderful word-play on the definition of "Raze", and "Terrarequiem". As it turned out, Terrarequiem stuck. Its meaning has also been related as, "Songs for a Dying Planet", and both meanings are equally endorsed by Dr. Terse.

Dr. Terse began collaborating with guitar-god, Arnt Rikardsen, a fellow skater with diverse eccelecticisms in musical taste and incredible skill in many musical genres. When the initial framework of some of the early songs was coming together, two other skaters gravitated to the band. Wayne Bellos, a guitarist with influences such as Hendrix, EVH, Slayer, Suicidal, & 7 Seconds, was a locally famous skater at the famed Bitch Ditch in Livingston, NJ. His good friend, Dave Bishow, was also a local skater, and was a bass player who was obsessed with Rush.

The band played its first show in a short-lived club in Montclair NJ, with a novice drummer, who shall remain nameless for posterity. Luckily, the band was loud enough that the drummer couldnt be heard well enough for most people to notice how bad he really was. A memorable moment was Arnt kicking in a video camera, out of frustration.

One person in the audience did notice, however. That person was none other than the master-drummer, Cemetery Rob.

Rob & his Brother, Kevin had achieved European notoriety with their band, "Mortuary", and were the cousins of, guess who? Local skater & previous ULCER guitarist, Power Plant Fran. Dr. Terse had worked with the guitarist, Power Plant Fran, in the mid 80s, who played under the moniker of Jimmie Blatant, in the tongue in cheek proto-industrial punk band by the name of ULCER.

When the first show was over, Cemetery Rob said, "Hi, Im your new drummer.", with his ever-present Steven Perkins-like grin. It was in this dark brick alley-way under the fire-escape & dim streetlights that the bands lineup was set.

While every member came from a different scene, skating, intoxicants and a few specific influential bands formed a commonality in the group. Those influential bands were: Janes Addiction, Early Smashing Pumpkins, The Doors, a local band named Planet Dread & Voivod's "Nothingface" masterpiece album.

Practices ensued, twice a week, at Rob & Kevins basement, in a small area known as "THE LOUD ROOM" (snagged from the Infocom game, Zork (echo)), which eventually had every inch of space covered in clippings, stickers, posters, & weird photos, largely due to the assembly of skaters in a confined area... It was quite a spectacle, actually, with the hacked together 6 foot PA that was assembled from a lot of components with blinking lights & held together with duct-tape.

Once a whole originals set & a few covers, ("Bloodstains", by Agent Orange, "Five to One", by The Doors, & "Submission", by the Sex Pistols) were practiced to death, the band began what was to be known as, "The Winter Misery Tour", playing local NJ venues that would accept bands based on audition, since demo recording costs were pretty high in those days. It never failed that it would snow or be weather that you could die in, when Terrarequiem came to town. Many gigs were played at Obsessions, Escapades, The Cricket Lounge, Studio One, and other dangerous holes in the wall.

When the money was finally scratched up to go to a 24 track studio, Arnt quit the band unexpectedly, shortly after he & Dr. Terse split a whole pack of Vivarin before a show (Dont try this at home...). Some of the more memorable one-liners from that night were:

Dr. Terse: "This next song is called I killed my parents and stole the family car..."

Arnt:: "No its not!"

Dr. Terse: OK, then, well call it Mankind...

Followed by:

Dr. Terse: "I'd like a little more reverb on the vocal."

Arnt: "Yeah, and Id like home on my own island, a Porsche 911 & a harem, we cant all have what we want!"

Further exasperated by:

Dr. Terse: "Chairs are for throwing, not for sitting on, get the fuck up!"

Arnt: "What the fuck?!?..."

And so it went... with Dr. Terse trying to encourage public disorder & Arnt getting more & more irritated. When everything was over, and they felt even more miserable, they both agreed that their stomachs felt like those little plastic bags that you get goldfish in at a carnival....

The next show, with then unknown, Type O Negative, & Mucky Pup, was already scheduled, & Power Plant Fran played guitar for that one night at Studio One, as a fill in member (after extensive late night intensive training for a few weeks). At the time, he had really long hair that was shaved to the skin on one side. Up for anything, he let Dr. Terse draw a Terrarequiem TR logo on the side of his head in El Marko Bold, and really looked like he was going to kick someones ass under the flashing lights onstage.

Another fill in guitarist was Mr. Freakseed himself, Dave Couillou who was just starting Black Metal Box, and was lucky enough to get gigs at the then underground hotspot, The Limelight.

Yet, as fate would have it, Kevin ended up being a permanent member as guitarist. Kevin & Rob were known as Los Bros Death, and, interchangeably, Death 1 & Death 2, as they looked very similar in those days. More shows were played, and eventually half of the Mindscape demo/EP was recorded. During this period, the band dissolved, largely from the desire to replace Dr. Terse, whose untrained vocals were punk inspired, with a more metal sounding, trained vocalist. There was no way that they could have known that Nirvana's Nevermind, & Grunge Rock was about to burst onto the scene in a big way a few short months later...

Terrarequiem had always faced a difficult audience due to its ground-breaking sound. Always grouped with Commercial Metal & Death Metal acts, often the audience just didnt get the idea that Terrarequiem was an evolution, and a hint of what the future could bring.

Dr. Terse finished producing the recorded material that was complete, and left the band, no longer feeling welcome. Terrarequiem changed its name to "The Society of the Mind", based on the title of the Artificial Intelligence classic, "The Society of Mind", written by Marvin Minsky, of M.I.T., which Dr. Terse had lent to guitarist, Wayne, a few weeks earlier.

The Society of the Mind played an outdoor show, with Dave Couillou on vocals, and broke up completely, shortly after.

Dr. Terse went to the then signed recording artist, Arnt Rikardsen for intensive music lessons, and learned advanced guitar theory & technique in record time, practically living at Arnt's Lake Hoptacong cottage. During this time-period he also learned bass and synths on his own. He then went on to form Plasticland, Nightmare Number 9, Heroin Chic (R.I.P. Ely) & Mind of its Own now known as STRAND TEST, Played guitar in Solaria, Bow Ever Down,and played synths in Ded Life DV8 (DV8, now known as Bon-Bomb), while pursing a career in computer science.

Arnt Rikardsen went on to fame & admiration in the surf scene, his latest projects being Sawney Bean, & The Oranglers.

Wayne Bellos got a scholarship to go to the Guitar Institute in California to play jazz, left his abusive household, and was never heard from again.

Dave Bishow left his home, in the shadow of the Livingston Nike Missile Base, and moved to Arizona, where he got mixed up with some cult living on a commune, & never was heard from again.

Dave Couillou went on to form the band, Freakseed.Cemetery Rob, Kevin, & Power Plant Fran went on to form ¾ of the band, Power Plant.
Terrarequiem song list:- Mankind
- Vociferous Vacuity
- Mindscape: Recorded 24 Track analog to DAT at Nu-Blu Studios
- Maze: Recorded 24 Track analog to DAT at Nu-Blu Studios
- Anagogic Terminus
- Sardonic Transmogrification (Inspiration)
- The Morpheous Mythology
- Biding Time
- Tattered Spectrum
- Hourglass

The individual band members of Terrarequiem have remained friendly, mutually supporting one another's musical directions, and can often be found at one another's shows.

Anyone with photos or videos is invited to send links to them here, so that they may be incorporated into this Terrarequiem memorial page.