Trying to categorise Russia’s TerraTerra into a neat and tidy genre for the purposes of giving the band a home would do the project’s self-titled debut album, a total disservice. It would also prove to be nigh on the impossible, as this one-man band of multi-instrumentalist Ayli K. incorporates a plethora of musical influences which touch upon various sonic signifiers, including doom, sludge, black metal, psychedelia, space rock, progressive/groove metal, post-rock, to create, what is ultimately an expansive metal record.
Fully instrumental, TerraTerra isn’t welcoming by any stretch of the imagination, as its cross-colonisation of genres would suggest. It doesn’t speak upon first listen, and in order to admire the scope of this record, attentiveness is crucial to the listener’s understanding. Beginning with “Just Once,” TerraTerra separate those who enjoy metal for its immediacy from those who are willing to sacrifice their time for a slow-burning, but no less satisfying, reward.
Sonically, “Infected” hauls slabs of atmospheric doom across the razor-sharp progressive metal, and does so without jarring the two dominating genres together. “Some Machinery is Still Working” pounds you into sumbission. There is also an interesting contrast at play here between the austere atmosphere created by these suffocating songs when compared to the more straightforward “Still” and “Global Funeral.” The inclusion of these two songs in the overall dynamic sequencing of TerraTerra increases the cinematic value of the album.
“Mute Your Thoughts,” which finishes the album, happens to be just as engaging as its preceding pieces: an encapsulation of each of the ideas explored during the songs that preceded it, with the inclusion of djent-y flashes. Each song on TerraTerra moves into the next to establish a sense of completeness.
The album is available here.
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