Roswell Six -
Terra Incognita: A Line In The Sand


(CD 2010, 65:25, ProgRock Records PRR 721)

The tracks:
  1- Barricade(8:24)
  2- Whirlwind(5:02)
  3- The Crown(5:22)
  4- Loyalty(6:17)
  5- My Father’s Son(6:11)
  6- Need(6:05)
  7- Spiral(6:46)
  8- Battleground(6:10)
  9- Victory(9:07)

Roswell Six Website        samples        ProgRock Records


Finally a new Roswell Six-album and since the first effort Terra Incognita: Beyond The Horizon (2009) was a great success, I was really looking forward to its successor. Terra Incognita: A Line In The Sand coincides with the release of the new novel of Kevin J. Anderson called The Map Of All Things on which the concept of this album was based. The sound on this second release is different from the debut, as it is much heavier and more varied. The music is dominated by the hard driving guitars of Henning Pauly and the extremely well-chosen different vocal parts. On this album you can enjoy the voices of Steve Walsh (Kansas), Michael Sadler (ex-Saga), Sass Jordan, Nick Storr (The Third Ending), Charlie Dominici (ex- Dream Theater), Alex Froese (Frameshift) and Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon).

The album kicks off with a rather heavy prog rock song called Barricade dominated by the superb voice of Walsh and the well-played guitar melodies and solos by Pauly. Follow-up Whirlwind is also rather heavy and features the vocals of Sadler and Storr; a perfect combination for this track. The Crown is the first track sung by Sass Jordan. I tend to dislike her rather screaming vocals that remind me of a heavy Bonnie Tyler... Loyalty is the first ballad, sung by Sadler. It’s a great song: very melodic with a nice and subtle guitar solo. Then the band really kicks ass again with the metal song My Father’s Son filled with staccato riffs, a screaming wild guitar solo and the rather heavy vocals of Dominici and Walsh. However, Roswell Six shines at the end of the album because the last two songs are without doubt the absolute highlights. Battleground is an instrumental piece featuring heavy, diverse guitar parts, riffs and solos; the final song Victory you want to enjoy over and over again. This is prog rock at its best with lots of Saga-like parts and extremely well-sung passages by Sadler; a true gem and a worthy closing song of this amazing album!

**** Martien Koolen (edited by Peter Willemsen)

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