There are times when I’m reviewing a particular album that I
can’t get a certain thought out of my head. That happened just the
other day, while I was listening to the latest release from Swedish
hard rockers Terra Firma. The more I listened to this self-titled
release, I couldn’t help but think, “Can’t these guys play a song
in any chord except D?”
Granted, they do know more than one chord, but there is a
painful lack of variety on this disc, which is otherwise
listenable. In a sense, the band – vocalist Lord Chritus, guitarist
Freddie Eugene, bassist Nico Moosebeach and drummer Izmo Ledderfejs
– try to mimic the sound that their fellow labelmates Sheavy have
put forth, only with more mixed results.
Terra Firma does have a very poppy Black Sabbath sound to their
music, though it often sounds like things haven’t quite jelled yet
with the band. Tracks like “Rainbow Ride” and “Goatburn”, while
decent enough to listen to on the first pass, show some weakness in
the songwriting and attempted vocal layering, which doesn’t sync up
well.
The Sabbath influences come forth the strongest and the best on
“…And The 8th Seal Was Her’s”, a track that gives the term
“bombastic” a good name. This, along with the acoustic-veined
“Separate Graves”, dare to suggest promise for Terra Firma, and are
the highlights of the album.
But soon, it’s back to business as usual, as well as the
universal worship of the D chord on
Terra Firma. Tracks like “Spiral Guru” and “Nimbus” all tend
to blend together, simply because the band refuses to play any song
that doesn’t have its roots in the D chord. (Note to the band: On
“Nimbus,” just because you play the D chord faster doesn’t mean the
key has changed.)
So why the lack of variety in the music? It certainly isn’t an
indication of Eugene’s guitar skills, ’cause he proves he’s a
better musician than some of the music tends to lead one to
believe. Maybe, just maybe, it’s a limitation in Chritus’s vocal
range – though I think there is something more to it than just
that.
And what is more disappointing about this is that
Terra Firma, otherwise, is a listenable album that is sure
to get people’s manes swinging to the beat more than once. But like
a magician who knows only one trick, things get real old, real
fast.
Terra Firma is an okay effort, and it does suggest bigger
and grander things for this band – but they need to start writing
songs in more than one key if they’re going to keep my
interest.
