  TaTe$_4$ is a quasi-1D tetrachalcogenide that exhibits a CDW instability
caused by a periodic lattice distortion. Recently, pressure-induced
superconductivity has been achieved in this compound, revealing a competition
between these different ground states and making TaTe$_4$ very interesting for
fundamental studies. Although TaTe$_4$ exhibits CDW ordering below 475 K,
transport experiments have reported metallic behavior with a resistivity
plateau at temperatures lower than 10 K. In this paper, we study the electronic
structure of TaTe$_4$ using a combination of high-resolution angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy and density functional calculations. Our results
reveal the existence of the long-sought metallic states. These states exhibit
mixed dimensionality, while some of them might have potential topological
properties.
