TERRAPLANE (Into The Unknown) 2LP/CD
This is the farewell album from the German band TERRAPLANE, which has been released in 2007 through Nasoni Records. The band was formed in 2000 and they've played a lot of shows during the past years together with The Hidden Hand, Dozer, Gas Giant or The Great Escape just to mention a few. In opposition to this bands, TERRAPLANE is deeply rooted in the blues and psychedelic rock of the 60's and 70's without imitating that sound with every detail. It's more that they have taken all the good things from that period and transmitted them into the current decade. The result is extremely refreshing and it doesn't matter, if they come along with driving up-tempo cuts like 'Lower' and 'Orange Salvation' or if they enter psychedelic territories with a song like 'Mantra' f.e. Especially guitarist Christian Peters, who's alo running the Generated X webzine, is creating a trippy atmosphere with the help of different effects, while drummer Jens Vogel and Bassist/vocalist Christian Oelke are responsible for a solid and dynamic foundation.
For me it's always a pleasure, when they let out their psychedelic likeness as in the brilliant title-song, where they also use sitar and other instruments. In such moments TERRAPLANE create a very emotional intensive mood without difficulty, and even if the songs is about 10 minutes it never becomes boring. It sounds as if they have integrated some spontaneous ideas during the recording sessions, but don't expect no pointless or endless jamming. The listener stick to their songs without the help of illegal substances, although it's definitely no disadvantage to smoke some good grass while listening to this album. A song like the doom-driven 'Liquid Dust' shows, that TERRAPLANE have listen more than only once to early Black Sabbath, while the catchy 'Devil Lurks Behind A Tie' is powered by a mighty groove. 'Groove Injection & Summer Jam' is the last song here and again the band knows how to improvise and to jam without boring the listener for a second. That's not easy when you play a song that reaches the 20 minutes mark. Overall 'Into The Unknown' is a perfect swansong and due to it's greatness it shows that here in Germany there's no other band who could replace TERRAPLANE.
(KK)
www.terraplane.de.vu
www.nasoni-records.com