ROSWELL SIX - review added 18th August 2009
Album Review: Terra Incognita: Beyond The Horizon (2009)
For fans of: Prog Rock Operas... and science fiction writers
This is not your normal album... Author Kevin J. Anderson (best known for his Star Wars universe-expanding novels) and his wife Rebecca Moesta (another well respected Star Wars author) wrote all the lyrics.
The words are based within, I quote, a "fantasy universe with sailing ships, sea monsters, and the crusades," inspired by the first novel in the new Terra Incognita series - The Edge Of The World. Anderson and Moesta developed and expanded one of the novel's storylines to form the basis of the album.
Creating the music for those words is keyboardist and composer Erik Norlander. His wife Lana Lane provides the female lead vocals, Kurt Barabas plays bass. Executive producer Shawn Gordon from ProgRock Records rounds out the members of 'Roswell Six'.
The rest of the 'cast list' are James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Michael Sadler (ex-Saga), John Payne (Asia Featuring John Payne), David Ragsdale (Kansas), Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery), Chris Quirarte (Prymary), Chris Brown (Ghost Circus) and cellist Mike Alvarez.
The style of the album is reminiscent of Gary Hughes' Once And Future King project from a few years back with an emphasis on vast storytelling lyrics and huge compositions. T.I.B.T.H. is more progressive, neo-classical and arguably more impressive. The performances are exemplary, especially James LaBrie and Lana Lane whose voices shine through like incendiary bombs in a gloomy war-torn morning.
The church-organ opening of 'Ishalem' set's the bar to a grandiose level straight away. Followed by harmonised chanting and an epic lead vocal, the song stretches to over 11 minutes and barely wastes any of its existence with unnecessary wanderings or improvised cack. It isn't what you could call a catchy track but, as an experience, there's little to criticise.
'I Am The Point' has hints of Middle Eastern mysticism overlaid onto a tribal beat structure. It's like a Dream Theater track remixed by a Hebrew DJ and an orchestra of Amazonian midgets. James LaBrie's vocals are off the beaten track and give the song an intriguingly moorish edge. 'Letters in a Bottle' is a slow, thoughtful and surprisingly lively track with a wonderful acoustic lead and emotive vocals. 'Halfway' is another ballad-style song, but more intensely beautiful than intellectual. The progressions are cleverly arranged and very uplifting.
'Here Be Monsters' is a bona fide rock-opera effort. It's the first song that truly brings the story of the sea monsters home and is both silly and brilliant at the same time. Lana Lane sounds utterly fabulous, as she does in the majority of her stints throughout the album. The instrumental 'The Sinking of the Luminara' starts with a melodiously brutal riff you could use to scare sensitive children... before descending into a menagerie of jazz/funk/rock fusion. It leads into 'The Winds Of War', a fantastically urgent track with a brassy Lana Lane lead vocal.
'Swept Away' is a song that never goes anywhere, but it's hard to stop listening to it. The underlying riff is incredibly heavy, admittedly in a controlled fashion, and holds your interest in a way it has no right to. 'Beyond the Horizon' is another of the slower emotive tracks. It isn't a ballad as such but touches the same nerves. It's definitely one of the finer standalone tracks on the album. So fine in fact the last, instrumental, track reprises several of the same signatures and melodies.
Terra Incognita: Beyond The Horizon is, without doubt, an impressive achievement. Eric Norlander's interpretation of the words is excellent, but the real winner here is Lana Lane. She gives the album a prevailing sense of class it would miss with a lesser vocalist. The release, whilst not biased towards standalone tracks, still has its killer moments but definitely works better as a whole. On balance T.I.B.T.H. is similar to, possibly influenced by, and several steps ahead of Gary Hughes' Once And Future King project.
Check out... Lana Lane's vocals. Looking forward to her next solo record already.
Track List:
1. Ishalem
2. The Call of the Sea
3. I Am the Point
4. Letters in a Bottle
5. Halfway
6. Anchored
7. Here Be Monsters
8. The Sinking of the Luminara (Instrumental)
9. The Winds of War
10. Swept Away
11. Beyond the Horizon
12. Merciful Tides
13. The Edge of the World (Instrumental)
Label: ProgRock Records
Artist's website(s): MySpace
