Terra

Does there ever come a point when the creativity of a musician starts to suffer due to their talents being spread out among numerous musical projects they are involved in? Could it be that a musician is involved with many projects because he has way too many ideas and some might be better suited in some situations where there are others that need to be used elsewhere? How much difference is there in the style of music between the many projects? One might find the answers to these questions after listening to the debut album from Cronian. Cronian is the brainchild of Borknagar's main songwriter Oystein G. Brun (guitars and programming) and Swedish multi-instrumentalist Mr. V (a.k.a. Vintersorg - vocals, bass and programming). Cronian is the culmination of five years of musical creativity. Both of these musicians have been trading and developing ideas during this time while releasing Borknagar albums. "Terra" is Cronian's debut album; a direct result of these ideas finally coming to fruition. "Terra" marks a progressive avant garde evolution. It combines some of the styles Borknagar has adopted over the past few years along with Mr. V's writing and musical techniques found in his projects like Vintersorg, Otyg and Fission. The album was engineered by Mattias Marklund (Vintersorg) and mastered by none other than Dan Swano (Bloodbath, Nightingale) at his Unisound Studio, giving "Terra" state of the art production . The lyrics are influenced by near death experiences and emotional extremes. The music is structured by their passion and interest for movie soundtracks. It is slow to mid tempo and very atmospheric. It incorporates elements from 70's art rock to current Nordic black metal. It's both melodic and experimental. The vocals switch off between clean and harsh, Nordic black metal style. The double bass drum patterns also seem to be Nordic black metal influenced. The melodic and experimental parts are mostly driven by the keyboards. The sounds can best be described as lush, synthesized string waves mixed in with electronic sounds. The keyboards are the main driving force in the music and are what make Cronian stand out from anything else these guys have done in their other projects. "Terra" is a challenging personal journey of the soul. Listening to it will give you visions of desolate arctic landscapes, invoking cold, gloomy feelings. It will be released on 4/18.