Tera - _Forerunner_
(Independent, 2009)
by: Quentin Kalis (6.5 out of 10)
Opeth are arguably the biggest "extreme" metal band of our times serving as a muse for the creative and as a Xerox for the unimaginative, if technically adept. Their success may well be a reason for a diehard metalhead to give what is essentially a prog rock disc a spin, as the nascent Northern Irish band Tera sound a lot like Opeth's prog moments stripped of metal. Of course, Opeth were heavily inspired by '70s prog rock and this may be true of Tera too. But I, like many of our readers, don't know all that much about '70s rock, and the legendary Swedes will be the first act to inevitably spring to mind.

Assuming the reader will have come from a metal background, "None Incarnet" serves as a useful entrance into the album, simply for being heavier than the others, while the primarily acoustic "Moon Trio" is the most accessible. The vocalist sticks solely to clean vocals and it would all too easy to compare to a certain Mr Akerfeldt, while they resolutely stick to mid-tempos, all the better to bring out their contemplative melancholia.

Regardless of the above, they present reasonably strong and progressively inclined compositions, which cannot escape the specter of Opeth, yet neither are they a shameless rip-off, like say, Alley. Sadly, this style of music needs a better production than what "Al and Andy's" can provide for all of its nuances to be appreciated.

Contact: http://www.myspace.com/teraonline

(article published 24/10/2009)


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