Review: Terra Odium – Ne Plus Ultra

Style: traditional/technical progressive metal (clean vocals)
Review by: Sam
Country: Norway
Release date: 11 June, 2021

Some styles of progressive metal are rarer than others. This is one of those styles that died off as the genre evolved beyond its initial stages. In the early days (around 1990) there were a good amount of bands playing a drier, guitar-driven brand of progressive metal that was strongly influenced by the tech metal movement at the time. Fates Warning pioneered this style with Perfect Symmetry, and a good amount of bands followed suite (Psychotic Waltz most notably). Albeit later than most in the movement, one of them was Spiral Architect. They took the technical aspects to extreme levels, to the point of often being criticized for sounding like robots. Back to the present, Terra Odium has two SA members on board and looks to continue that earlier style but in a modern setting. Oh, and they have Steve DiGiorgio (of Death and Testament fame) on bass, which is nice.

The tech metal influences are noticeable immediately as the record opens with a whirling odd-time riff after a brief orchestral intro. It’s a banger song to open up the album with and it sets the tone of what is to come. The modern sheen is a huge improvement over 90s production, adding some much needed beef to well… just about everything that it’d be folly to point to individual elements. The song reminds me of “…And the Devil Cried” on Psychotic Waltz’ debut in how it takes no prisoners and instantaneously transforms your facial expression into one of pure stank. And speaking of PW, if you told me Buddy Lackey did the vocals on this album, I would have believed you, because the first few verses on the song sound exactly like something he’d have done. Øyvind Hægeland sounds eerily much like him with a similarly nasal tone. Later in the song he distinguishes himself more though as he starts putting in the high notes. It’s a fantastic vocal performance. He’s got a very commanding presence. The song goes through a bunch of different sections and riffs, largely eschewing the typical verse-chorus structure. And on top there’s a neat layer of orchestration giving some extra dramatic oomph.

The next song “The Road Not Taken” leans even further into the dramatic orchestration than the opener, sounding almost like there’s a symphony backing the band. The guitar work is stellar throughout the song, giving some delicious chunky riffs and melodic solos. I barely noticed it at first, but almost half the song is instrumental. Its structure is quite intricate, yet retains enough simplicity for easy absorption. I didn’t enjoy some of the verse much though as Øyvind’s delivery felt a bit off, making him fall behind on the instrumentation. Sometimes his singing sounds like he’s talking. And more generally, there were more spots on the album where his vocals felt off. When it’s about power and aggression he does really well, but he struggles with the softer, more emotional parts. Not that music like this needs to pull on your heartstrings all the time, but a bit more variety would have come a long way.

I find this also rings true for the instrumentation. As heavy and technical as bands like Fates Warning and Psychotic Waltz could get for the time, they always made sure to include a couple of softer, more touching songs. This album on the other hand tends to just go through various shades of riff and dramatic orchestration for almost its entire duration, which gets somewhat tiring near the end, which is unfortunate because “The Thorn” is a very well-constructed epic in itself. Luckily right after the acoustic “It Was Not Death” does give a bit of a reprieve from the metal onslaught. It reminds me a ton of post-reunion Manilla Road’s acoustic tracks. In fact, I would not be surprised if it was meant to be a homage to Mark Shelton (RIP) because it’s that close. The atmosphere, the style of acoustic picking, the nasal vocals all sound heavily like MR. It was only the epic orchestral explosion near the end that I was reminded that this was not, in fact, Manilla Road. It’s a cool song for sure, though I don’t think it’s quite as pretty as MR could pull off. The final track “The Clouded Morning” returns to the metal onslaught again, but now with extra guitar solos, making for a more melodic track than most. However around the four minute mark they settle into this groovy midtempo riff, which they ride out for three whole minutes till the song ends in a fadeout. I can see the appeal of it for some people, but I am not one of those people (“groove” has never appealed to me much), so it was a bit of a bummer.

On the whole though, I’m positive about Ne Plus Ultra. The main draw of this album, namely riffs and technical, yet tight songwriting is delivered in spades. These are all very fine, dynamic metal tunes. For those who could never get into 90s progressive metal due to production issues, this is a great starting point. And for those who miss representation in that style in the modern scene (like me), this is also an excellent record to keep around. I’m not sure how much music this band is intent on making since it seems to be somewhat of a supergroup, but I certainly look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

Recommended tracks: Crawling, The Thorn, It Was Not Death
Recommended for fans of: (early) Psychotic Waltz, Spiral Architect, Fates Warning, Watchtower
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Metal-Archives page

Label: Frontiers Records – Website | Facebook

Terra Odium is:
– Øyvind Hægeland (vocals, lead guitars)
– Bollie Fredriksen (lead/rhythm guitars)
– Steve DiGiorgio (bass)
– Asgeir Mickelson (drums)
– Jon Phipps (keyboard, orchestration)