Roswell Six - 2025 - Terra Incognita, Uncharted Shores

(51:47; Inkind Music) 

Back in 2009 a new project was unleashed on an unsuspecting world, Roswell Six. The concept had come about when author Kevin J. Anderson had a conversation with ProgRock Records’ owner Shawn Gordon which led to the idea of having a book/music tie in with three albums containing lyrics by Kevin and his wife which would tell the story of the Terra Incognita series of books. I really enjoyed the first two albums, 2009’s ‘Terra Incognita: Beyond The Horizon’ and 2010’s, ‘Terra Incognita: A Line in The Sand’, but sadly while the third book was released in 2011 there was no album, and it seemed the originally envisaged project was at an end.

Musician, composer and record label boss Bob Madsen has been involved in multiple projects over the years, one of the most notable being The Grafenberg Disciples who had written and recorded a tribute to Neil Peart after his untimely passing, entitled “No Words.” Not long after the video was made public, Bob received an email thanking him for paying tribute, from Neal’s longtime friend and collaborator, Kevin J. Anderson. Soon Bob and Kevin became firm friends, which eventually led to a discussion as to whether the third album of the original trilogy could ever be completed? The music for the first album had been mostly written by Erik Norlander, the second by Henning Pauly, and this time Bob set to work with Billy Connally, and Jerry Merrill, while he also got involved with ensuring the lyrics, mostly written by Kevin J Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, were right for the music and even wrote the words for closer “Not In My Name”.

The result is the conclusion of the story, with some great names becoming involved. With the singers alone we have Michael Sadler reprising his role as Criston, Ted Leonard as Saan, Anneke Van Giersbergen as Ystya, Dan Reed as Prester Hannes and Hans Eberbach as Ondun while ex-Jethro Tull drummer Doane Perry provides spoken word! All three albums come together as a whole, with the lyrics and words providing equal weight with the music as we complete the saga laid out in the first releases. I have become quite a fan of Bob’s work in recent years, and here is has outdone himself in the way he has controlled the music and delivered it in such a fashion that it is a true delight. Sadler is not in the best of health, but his performance belies that fact as he is still full of passion, strength and vigour. Dan Reed has always been one of my favourite musicians (‘Slam’ is probably one of the most-played albums in my collection) and it is wonderful to hear him involved, while Anneke and Ted are two of my favourite singers of all time, and although much of this was recorded in separate studios it never sounds that way as here we have a dynamic and concise progressive rock concept album which is a delight from beginning to end.

The first two albums crept out when they were released all those years ago, and in some ways, this has done the same, which is nothing short of criminal, as this is a delight from beginning to end and any fans of this modern progressive rock will find much here to enjoy. 

Kev Rowland, October 2025

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