TERRA SOLA

The band "Rosetta" has been quite busy the last few years supporting their full-length album "Utopioid" with a huge tour encompassing 2 years, spanning 36 countries and performing 200 shows. After this, eager fans were waiting for new music, and the band has delivered twice in 2019.

"Terra Sola" is the 2nd EP released in 2019 by the Experimental/Post Metal band Rosetta. The first EP by the band this year ("Sower of Wind") was an excellent study in minimalism with some heavy contrasts. "Terra Sola" has the same line up as "Sower of Wind" with one exception: Bruce McMurtrie rejoins the band's line up providing drums and vocals, while Mike Armine (vocals, samples), Eric Jernigan (guitars), and Matt Weed (guitar, bass, piano) remain in the band as before. The band cites "Neurosis" and "Isis". This EP is made up of 3 tracks with a total run time of just over 22 minutes.

The first track is the title track "Terra Sola" (11:25), and is the centerpiece to this EP. The track begins with a moderate, but heavy beat, and swirling guitars make for a lush, yet forward moving sound. Light, airy vocals come in as the instrumental patterns support accented by a heavy bass. There is a short pause, then a sudden explosion takes the music to heavy, emotional levels. Vocals return, this time, though, they are growling/screaming to match the heavier music. This heavy hitting sound continues until the 4 minute mark, when it backs off a bit, but the heavy rhythm continues while the guitars start to swirl around again. Both the bass and drums carry the excitement though, and then eventually bridges back to the heaviness and growling vocals. This time, a more melodic layer is softly sung under the yelling, and it results into a nice contrast of emotions. After 7 minutes, the music quickly backs off again. Now, the mood takes on a "Mogwai" style guitar exploration while the drums continue to pound out a complex pattern. Guitars and keys float over the complex drums until the end.

"57844"(6:06) is the title of the 2nd track, a futher exploration of the sound that was explored in the track "54543" from the "Utopioid" album. The music is soft and fluttery with staccato notes playing a chordal pattern as a soft guitar plays over it, and soft, airy vocals with harmonized layers flow along with the music. The sound is lush, yet the instruments create a constant frantic feel at the same time. Where the first track was more of a display of contrasting moods and mostly showing the usual heavy side of the band, this one if more consistent, not varying much from the sound, yet still creating a beauty that keeps you engaged.

The final track is the instrumental "Where is Hope?" (4:48) which is driven more by an acoustic guitar while airy electric guitar and electronic layers create a cushion of lo-fi layers under it. There is some percussion added under it all which really doesn't establish a rhythm as much as it becomes another layer of sound, rolling drums and somewhat harsh slamming sounds that still remain under the mix. The song floats along easily, though it is also accented by the unsettling percussion, until it finally fades and then the acoustic guitar takes it to the end.

Once again, we see another side of the band, but this time, the EP just doesn't explore the minimalism like the previous one, but gives us a rousing title track that reflects their usual sound followed by 2 more atmospheric tracks. You can definitely hear the "Isis" influence on this album, but Rosetta definitely shows that they can be their own band, and continue to show their willingness to explore their sounds. After creating two excellent EPs that show their different sides, we can hope to hear a new full album soon that will marry these two sides into a real masterpiece, but for now, we can definitely be satisfied with the offerings they have provided, which can be downloaded from Bandcamp as a "pay what you wish" release. And once again, they give us an excellent EP. 4 stars.