ProgRock Records
2009
1. Ishalem
2. The Call Of The Sea
3. I Am The Point
4. Here Be Monsters
5. Letters In A Bottle
6. Halfway
7. Anchored
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)
Roswell Six is a new project band led by Erik Norlander and a part of a very ambitious and unique idea. This band all started with the writing of the book Beyond The Horizon by Kevin J Anderson who had the idea to write song lyrics for an album to coincide with the book's release. This is the first time I've ever seen that the material is not so much inspired by the author, but actually by him and makes for a lot of potential in terms of the concept of the album. Couple that with the excellent choice of Erik Norlander to write the music and you have an album that has my interest peaked.
Roswell Six's Terra Incognita is also driven by an interesting collection of musicians. This album assigns characters to four different singers which includes some great talent. On board for this album are Norlander's wife Lana Lane (of course), James LaBrie of Dream Theater, John Payne of Asia, and Michael Sandler formerly of Saga. Along with Erik Norlander (and I'm guessing the author himself) this makes up the core of the band. There are numerous other instrumental contributors.
The result of this collaboration is a blend between the progressive metal and rock influences contained within and Erik Norlander & Lana Lane have always ridden the line between both at any rate. There is enough muscle behind a lot of this music for me to comfortably call it a metal release however and songs like I Am The Point and Call Of The Sea blaze away in fine fashion. Really these songs do remind me of Lana Lane's heavier material and particularly some of the songs at the beginning of her last album, Red Planet Boulevard. I'd say there are more progressive metal numbers than rock ones and the heaviness adds power to the release. There are some softer moments as well as the album does shift moods into more melodic, ballad-esque numbers like Letters In A Bottle, Merciful Tides, and Beyond The Horizon, but that is also fairly typical of an album covering a concept like this. These sorts of songs are fantastic as well and boosted by some really emotive singing. The music and singing on this release just come across in fine fashion and I could not think of someone more appropriate to a sort of symphonic fantasy soundtrack than Erik Norlander. Between the author bringing the sense of the books to the music and Norlander's talent for big and epic sounds this is a definite win that seems to capture the source material judging by the lyrics. Also worth noting are two excellent instrumentals which fit well beside the lyrics and present their own feeling which benefits the album. The heaviest and my favorite tunes do seem to come early on in the release, but I enjoy it all and would not classify anything here as weak.
Talent, songwriting, and a lyrical concept like none other make quite a combination and an enjoyable listen. I would highly recommend Terra Incognita to fans of both progressive rock and metal and if you like Norlander/Lana Lane than this is absolutely essential. I personally find a lot of substance to this album and it is everything a good concept release should be. I for one plan to pick up a copy of this album for myself as well as the book. Any author with this good of taste can't be all bad right? As this is the beginning of a fantasy novel series I hope this means more albums like this.
Highlights: I Am The Point, Ishalem, Here Be Monsters, The Call Of The Sea
Rating - 4.0/5
2. The Call Of The Sea
3. I Am The Point
4. Here Be Monsters
5. Letters In A Bottle
6. Halfway
7. Anchored
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)
Roswell Six is a new project band led by Erik Norlander and a part of a very ambitious and unique idea. This band all started with the writing of the book Beyond The Horizon by Kevin J Anderson who had the idea to write song lyrics for an album to coincide with the book's release. This is the first time I've ever seen that the material is not so much inspired by the author, but actually by him and makes for a lot of potential in terms of the concept of the album. Couple that with the excellent choice of Erik Norlander to write the music and you have an album that has my interest peaked.
Roswell Six's Terra Incognita is also driven by an interesting collection of musicians. This album assigns characters to four different singers which includes some great talent. On board for this album are Norlander's wife Lana Lane (of course), James LaBrie of Dream Theater, John Payne of Asia, and Michael Sandler formerly of Saga. Along with Erik Norlander (and I'm guessing the author himself) this makes up the core of the band. There are numerous other instrumental contributors.
The result of this collaboration is a blend between the progressive metal and rock influences contained within and Erik Norlander & Lana Lane have always ridden the line between both at any rate. There is enough muscle behind a lot of this music for me to comfortably call it a metal release however and songs like I Am The Point and Call Of The Sea blaze away in fine fashion. Really these songs do remind me of Lana Lane's heavier material and particularly some of the songs at the beginning of her last album, Red Planet Boulevard. I'd say there are more progressive metal numbers than rock ones and the heaviness adds power to the release. There are some softer moments as well as the album does shift moods into more melodic, ballad-esque numbers like Letters In A Bottle, Merciful Tides, and Beyond The Horizon, but that is also fairly typical of an album covering a concept like this. These sorts of songs are fantastic as well and boosted by some really emotive singing. The music and singing on this release just come across in fine fashion and I could not think of someone more appropriate to a sort of symphonic fantasy soundtrack than Erik Norlander. Between the author bringing the sense of the books to the music and Norlander's talent for big and epic sounds this is a definite win that seems to capture the source material judging by the lyrics. Also worth noting are two excellent instrumentals which fit well beside the lyrics and present their own feeling which benefits the album. The heaviest and my favorite tunes do seem to come early on in the release, but I enjoy it all and would not classify anything here as weak.
Talent, songwriting, and a lyrical concept like none other make quite a combination and an enjoyable listen. I would highly recommend Terra Incognita to fans of both progressive rock and metal and if you like Norlander/Lana Lane than this is absolutely essential. I personally find a lot of substance to this album and it is everything a good concept release should be. I for one plan to pick up a copy of this album for myself as well as the book. Any author with this good of taste can't be all bad right? As this is the beginning of a fantasy novel series I hope this means more albums like this.
Highlights: I Am The Point, Ishalem, Here Be Monsters, The Call Of The Sea
Rating - 4.0/5
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