Carl Westholm is back with his second installment of the epic sci-fi progressive metal project he started with the release of First Contact/Last Warning in 2008. Continuing the stories on Terraform he brings the same bombastic and dramatic flair that we were introduced to on the first album.
Starting off with an almost industrial metal sound, this disc quickly puts you in a mood where it is very easy to envision cyborgs are as commonplace as pets are today. This "New Universe" is brought to life by Westholm in a way that even Robert Heinlein would approve of. This is a dark and murky sounding disc that fits well with the theme he is presenting. It has many things going for it over their first effort but also suffers from many things that made the initial foray into this futuristic world a good but not great album.
While musically this one is very listenable, it does seem to be for the most part played in a very narrow band. The songs seem to have the same meter and beat as the one before along with vocals that tend to drone on and on. In the confines of the concept of the disc this might have been planned but does not make for very interesting listening. I would have to say that initially I was OK with the vocals but after a few times through it became very one dimensional.
Musically this is a very high quality disc that has the regal feel of something that might have come from Ayreon but lacks both the style and songwriting ability of Arjen Lucassen. Still it is a good disc and fans of Carptree will definitely want to check it out. For everyone else, there is a wealth of similar projects out there that I would pick over this one but it is still an album that I will pull out from time to time.
Track listing:
1. New Universe
2. Rescue And Resurrection
3. Cranial Implant
4. Into The Dark
5. Siren's Song/Black Hole
6. Terraforming
7. Beyon These Walls You Are Not My Master
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