Wow, those busy beavers at Lion Music have been working hard, and as with all the albums in the Consortium Project "quadrilogy reissue" series, this new version of the previously out-of-print album sees an all new remaster and the addition of two never before heard bonus tracks from band mastermind Ian Parry's vaults. If you are following the story (and to be honest, that's something I seldom do,) then it has been more than 375 years since the effects of global warming, and the depletion of the Ozone. The results were catastrophic. Worldwide air pollution and extremely low temperatures, forced the Neofems to seek permanent refuge. Communication with the outside world was no-longer possible. Cocooned in the safety of their biosphere, the planet continued through the centuries frozen in time. Got it? What about the music?
Epic would be the word to use. Need more? Muscular and masculine would also work despite the amount of female vocals. It's a big sounding record, bombastic most certainly. I can see why some may be bored by the fairly technical nature of what is on offer here but if you're reading Sea of Tranquillity you probably like this kind of stuff and may want to give it a chance. If I were to rank it I would place it below V: Species but it's as good as any of the others in the series and the standout track is the pounding "The Ark (of the Covenant)".
Track Listing:
- The Council of Elders
- Spirit of Kindness
- The Ark (of the Covenant)
- Lost Empire
- Reductio Ad Absurdum
- White Sands (California Lighthouse)
- Great Exploration
- Across The Seven Seas
- Nemesis
- Beyond The Gateway of Legends
- Terra Incognita (The Undiscovered World)
- GREAT Exploration (Bonus-demo version)
- Terra Incognita – The Undiscovered World (Bonus-demo version)