Terra Incognita - Barren Land

\r\nTerra Incognita from Athens, Greece is a newcomer band that just after almost one and a half year of existence has managed to put together and self-release its first full length album, called  “Barren Land”. As frequently happens on debut albums, one would imagine there would be some bad or mediocre moments here and there throughout the album but that doesn’t happen in Terra Incognita’s case, since “Barren Land” is complete in every aspect, as one can listen in here 10 bursting compositions from a band that has already crystallized it’s sound and is full of creative ideas.
\r\nMusically speaking, Terra Incognita belong to the melodic heavy metal genre, while they do fill their material here and there with doom and progressive elements. Upon listening their material, one cannot find it difficult to realize that Rage are a major influence to them, along with the likes of Riot, Queensryche and Fates Warning. All these influences of course are binded together harmonically to create an album that gives out its own sound, something very important for a newcomer band. What Terra Incognita have actually managed is every album’s sine qua non which we tend to forget sometimes, that is 10 almost equally good songs, each one having its own identity and not resembling another. Melodies, solos, rhythm and feeling changes, everything is worked out carefully to give an album without a single average moment. Of course there are songs that stand out, such as the “hit” Outcome, the doomy Cage Of Sins or the epic 10 minute-long Efialtes where we can also hear some lyrics in greek, which is pretty connected with the song’s subject, the Battle of Thermopylae and the 300 Spartans.
\r\nAll the above are helped by a good production that does justice to Terra Incognita’s musical skills and ideas. So, what we have here is a really interesting offering from a fresh band that has already worked hard and that if it continues that way will be here to stay. All friends of the genre should give Terra Incognita a chance and they are surely not to be disappointed.\r\n