Mike Patton’s latest project has him teaming up with Aussie pianist/composer Anthony Pateras in the new band, Tētēma.


The news of Tētēma’s creation comes on the heels of Patton’s other band, Faith no More, announcing their new album for 2015.

Pateras, a veteran musician with eighteen albums under his belt, said that Geocidal began when he locked himself “in a convent in rural France for 10 days to think about rhythm and sound.” The album comes out of “a desire to base everything in this music on feel and instinct.” After Pateras’ time in the convent, he had “the craziest 48 hours” with Patton in San Francisco where they added vocals and started to finalize the album.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this album is the way it was recorded. Pateras describes it best: “Every element is recorded in a different city, and this gives the sound a displaced, almost vaporous intensity – it comes from both everywhere and nowhere…Everything on the record is played in live – there are no samples, no sequencing, everything is handcrafted and performed by a human.”

There has been no music released from the album yet. Tētēma releases their debut album, Geocidal, on December 9 via Ipecac Recordings.