Band:
Band Website: www.myspace.com/roswellsix
Label: ProgRock Records
Label Website: www.progrockrecords.com
Release Date: 2009
It’s not unusual for the paths of Science Fiction and Progressive Rock to intersect. There have been a number of times
where the work of famous sci-fi writers has been the inspiration for some heady projects. But I can’t really remember another project
where the writer in this case Kevin J. Anderson actually gets involved with the project to use the musical scope of prog to provide
a crossover project for his work. This is the musical interpretation of
The music of Terra Incognita was composed
and produced by Norlander so it should not be a surprise to hear that there is a ring of familiarity if you are familiar with his
other projects. That said this is very much a project with its own distinctive qualities. These 13 tracks, most in the five-minute
range are best described as hard-edged symphonic prog; not really prog-metal by any stretch of the imagination but with enough crunchy
guitar to satisfy that crowd as well. There are guitars, flutes, violins and keyboards aplenty taking turns at performing solos centre-stage.
This is after all a story about war, dragons and ship-wrecks so it needs to be grand and in many cases aggressive. And here the music
and multi-vocal delivery really works well presenting us with a larger-than-life panoramic vista. The CD opens with one of the more
complex pieces; “Ishalem” [11:02] the longest track on the disc and there are plenty of musical change-ups here as the story is introduced
and it seems everyone, vocalist and instrumentalist gets a chance to shine in the spotlight. From there you can follow along in the
booklet where
The music of Roswell Six is pretty faultless in its execution:
these are talented musicians and the detailed and adventurous arrangements more than make up for any lack of compositional complexity.
These are songs that focus on the story and that is as it should be. I’m pretty sure fans of any of the bands detailed above are going
to absolutely love this disc. It’s an epic musical adventure that has much to recommend it. My guess is Terra Incognita will make
many of the years “Best of...” lists, and so it should. Well done!
