Tetrarch Embrace Their Freakishness on Their Full-Length Debut, 'Freak'

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The songs on Freak—the first full-length outing from Atlanta-bred, L.A.-based metal quartet Tetrarch—are built to bludgeon. Between its mix of concrete-heavy, post–nu metal beats and lead guitarist Diamond Rowe’s armor-piercing thrash leads, none of us are safe—not even Tetrarch’s own band members. For instance, during the group’s recent cross-country run with DevilDriver, a particularly ruthless run-through of the new album’s title cut nearly annihilated rhythm guitarist Josh Fore.

“I was headbanging on our new song ‘Freak’ in the middle section, and as I went down, Diamond’s headstock was coming up and caught me right on the side of the face,” says Fore. “I played the rest of the show with blood going all over.”

Unsurprisingly, Tetrarch’s latest knows how to bring the pain. The speed present on the outfit’s earlier trio of EPs has come down a bit, but Rowe and Fore double-down on the intensity of their playing. Detuned discordance and whammy-infused flourishes seethe on “Spit.” Elsewhere, “Pull the Trigger” finds the duo locking into a mathematical, palm-muted breakdown before the lead guitarist powers through a flashbang of fiery bends and hammer-ons. The compact micro-solo on “Freak” is less flashy, but Rowe purposefully pulled back to focus on experimenting with a series of watery reverbs and delays.

“Even though all these songs have solos, we didn’t want to over-saturate,” she says. “Do I miss it a little bit? I wish there might’ve been a couple that were a little longer, but I think we did a pretty good job overall.”

“Freak” ties into the record’s overarching theme of self-discovery, Fore screaming on the song of the importance of “letting your psycho loose.” It’s a potent message, and 10 years into their career, the members of