Etherius at Mercury Lounge

Hailing from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Jay Tarantino was 13 years old when a friend started playing guitar. Tarantino wanted to learn to play drums so that they could form a band, but fearing the racket Tarantino's parents instead gave him an acoustic guitar and paid for his lessons. Tarantino played in the New Jersey metal circuit and received his first professional opportunity when virtuoso guitarist Angel Vivaldi hired him as his rhythm guitarist. After nine years with Vivaldi, Tarantino had collected a sufficient amount of original riffs and melodies and decided in 2016 to record demo tapes for a solo album. He sought musicians to help him realize his goal, but then the four musicians became an all-instrumental band, Etherius, in 2017. Etherius’ debut EP, Thread of Life, was released on August 24, 2018. Etherius presently consists of Tarantino, guitarist Jon Perkins, bassist Chris Targia and drummer Zaki Ali.

Etherius was a studio project before it ever became a touring band, so the performance tonight at Mercury Lounge proved limited in stage dynamics but protein-filled in musicianship. Although the audience was very close to the rather low stage, the band was disconnected. None of the musicians ever really acknowledged or played to the audience; instead they usually closed their eyes or looked at their instruments or at each other. The perfection of the music, on the other hand, was the ultimate take away. Tarantino's musical arrangements often latched onto power metal melodies and old school metal riffs. The compositions were strong and somewhat novel in today's market. Many songs were fast, but this was not necessarily the band's signature sound. The band fluidly embraced long-standing thrash, prog and neo-classical structures without resorting to the newer djent, electronic and symphonic elements trending in instrumental metal circles. As such, the songs were relatively short in length but long in shredding. Once the musicians learn to feel comfortable at working their audience, Etherius may grow far beyond niche status.