{"id":249028,"date":"2025-09-23T13:24:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T13:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/249028\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T13:24:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T13:24:14","slug":"terra-atlantica-oceans-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/249028\/","title":{"rendered":"Terra Atlantica – Oceans Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I had almost forgotten about German four-banger Terra Atlantica<\/strong> since I last covered them five years ago. Once my memory refreshed, I recalled what compelled me to snag Age of Steam<\/a> in the first place: my love for steampunk. Far from the most dedicated\u2014and perhaps even farther away from the best\u2014piece of media based on that universe, Terra Atlantica<\/strong> nonetheless did sound appropriately grounded in a world propelled by superheated water. But their songwriting was too inconsistent to make a big splash with this sponge. With follow-up Oceans in tow, is their hope that Terra Atlantica<\/strong> will hoist my sails properly this time?<\/p>\n

With a new lead guitarist, Terra Atlantica<\/strong> finds themselves armed with a more folk-driven base that sends their sea-faring stories even further into open water than ever before. Veering into jaunty pirate metal territory, Oceans boasts a wide variety of baubles and decorative deviations scattered around their cookie-cutter power metal foundation. Terra Atlantica<\/strong>\u2019s unusually reedy vocals carry over from the last record, evoking a certain Muppet-y personality that I don\u2019t hate, but which many could. Canned strings and horns make a resurgence as well, pushing Oceans deeper into symphonic territory. In short, Oceans is as cheesy a power metal record as can be without being Fellowship<\/strong><\/a>, only without even half the songwriting acumen.<\/p>\n

In fact, songwriting is Oceans\u2019 greatest downfall. Numbers that could\u2019ve been great on their own merit find themselves stranded by downright infuriating choices. The greatest offenders are \u201cHoist the Sail,\u201d ruined almost immediately once Terra Atlantica<\/strong> cribs the legendary \u201cThe Rake Hornpipe<\/a>\u201d for an overlong bridge and solo; and overblown closer \u201cOceans of Eternity,\u201d which once again copies and pastes more than one segment from a piece of well-known classical music to pad its runtime without doing anything meaningful with them. Outside of those rage-inducing moments, though, there\u2019s still very little substance to Oceans. Due to its dogged reliance on basic genre building blocks and banal lyrics, Oceans is effectively wall-to-wall tropes and fairytale pirate stereotypes (\u201cBack to the Sea,\u201d \u201cWhere My Brothers Await,\u201d \u201cLand of Submarines\u201d).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Indeed, Oceans reminds me of a metallized The Muppet Treasure Island soundtrack, minus that masterpiece\u2019s compositional excellence. Nonetheless, flashes of brilliance give me some hope that Terra Atlantica<\/strong> have the potential to write showstoppers worthy of positive comparisons to that iconic OST. \u201cRaven in the Dark,\u201d for example, might be the album\u2019s strongest whole song, pumping a stadium-ready melody and boasting a sticky chorus and fun hair-metal solo. \u201cCaribbean Shores,\u201d too, maximizes its fun factor with a novel bit of tropical songwriting not often heard in power metal, unless you are Twilight Force<\/strong><\/a>. Additionally, I do appreciate the injection of real heft and a vaguely thrashy personality in \u201cTurn of the Tide.\u201d If these novelties and convincing attributes were integrated more successfully into a greater portion of Ocean\u2019s runtime, the record would feel quite a bit different than what metal fans have been taught to expect from the symphonic power scene.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Terra Atlantica<\/strong> only reinforce what metal fans learned to dread. To wit, a dearth of musical creativity in relation to material density, an overt abuse of classical standbys in the place of what should be original material (or at least a creative use of reference), and clear and present stereotyping in writing, theme, and lyrical content. What little hints of potential Terra Atlantica<\/strong> leave for listeners across Oceans\u2019 relatively tight 49 minutes do not make up for the burden of uninspiring, sometimes outright annoying, material offered. Steer clear of this if you know what\u2019s good for you, lads!<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> Bad
DR:<\/strong> 5 | Format Reviewed:<\/strong> 320 kb\/s mp3
Label:<\/strong> Scarlet Records<\/a>
Websites:<\/strong> terra-atlantica.de<\/a> | facebook.com\/terraatlantica<\/a>
Releases Worldwide:<\/strong> September 26th, 2025<\/p>\n

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