(Prog Folk) Terra Mystica - Carsica - 1998, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The Slovenian group was established in 1995 as a project led by the guitarist and composer Daniel Cerne. Their first album "Carsica" was a big multimedia project - a conceptual work about karstic landscape. There were a lot of people involved: dancers, technical staff, more then ten musicians playing different kinds of instruments (classical, folk and rock)... Their music is also very diverse, ranging from symphonic progressive rock to classical. The local publishers were not interested in album because it was too unconventional for them. The album was first selfpublished with the help of publishing firm Racman. The group sent their offer for cooperation to a variety of international independent publishers. The first one to respond was Cranium Music from New Zealand and TERRA MYSTICA had a deal. The CD was soon the album of the month and it traveled arround the world. After international success the interest in the group also increased in Slovenia. In 1998 they were nominated in sensational six categories for country's "Golden Rooster Awards" and they won two. Later the leader Daniel Cerne and the clarinetist Bostjan Gombac were invited in New Zealand. There they recorded some projects with local musicians. After this travel a new group was born - TERRA FOLK, which is specialized in traditional folk music from different parts of the world (especially Balkan and Celtic). TERRA MAYSTICA's long awaited second album "Axis" was published at Nika Records in 2002. The concept of the album is the tree as a symbol of the centre of the world (Axis Mundi). The music is very ecclectic again and diverse with interesting musicians. There are elements of Istrian and other traditional music, combined with classical, rock and electronica. Some lyrics are in English.

Terra Mystica is a project masterminded by guitarist Danijel Černe, also known as Mystica. Černe wrote most of the pieces for Terra Mystica and was later also the leading man behind Terra Folk, their folky offshoot.

Their first album, entitled Carsica, was released in 1998 to very favourable reviews and fan responses. They were greatly supported by the television and radio. Although the album and band were very popular at the time, this first album is now quite hard to find.

Many will wonder if it is indeed worth seeking this album out. I myself was very sceptical. How can it be good if it was so popular? I suppose even 10 years ago, popular music was slightly different than nowadays and you could still get away with quality and artistic integrity. The truth is that Terra Mystica created one of the finest Slovenian progressive rock albums of all time and that's saying a lot because the scene was anything but small. I have to say it's my favourite Slovenian album ever. It really is that good – eclectic, original and still highly catchy.

The album opens with Prebujenje (Awakening), which starts off in befitting mystical fashion with the sound of bells. The other instruments join the fun and keep this mood going. This is probably the closest Terra Mystica come to pure symphonic progressive rock.
Preobrazba (Metamorphosis) is a classically oriented piece with lots of strings and piano. It may have been intended as a short interlude, but it works just as beautifully on its own.
Cirkus 01 is exactly what you'd imagine a circus to sound like, except this is a sombre and tired circus in its last breaths. Terra Mystica manage to create a wonderful dichotomy between tradition and progress, the playfulness of the circus and the fatigue which surrounds this dying trade.
Srce in valovi (Heart and Waves) relies heavily on the strings yet again. They create a rhythm which goes on until the end of the song. The drums mimic the beating of a heart and with the steady lull of the waves (strings) create the perfect rhythmical backdrop for this short piece. Only the occasional keyboards, bass and guitars disturb this rhythmical pattern.
Ples kot dežne kaplje (Dance Like Rain Drops) is another piece which imitates the sounds of nature. The percussion works like rain drops and the rest of the instruments create tension, culminating with the sounding of the trumpets, which almost bear a resemblance to some Art Zoyd pieces.
Nosorog v katedrali (Rhinoceros in the Cathedral) sounds uncannily similar to post rock, with a slow build-up and relying more on atmosphere than technique.
Already the next piece brings about another change – blues rock, some reggae, plenty of classical, hard rock are all joined in another splendid concoction that will make you think: "Why didn't I think of that?"
Terra Mystica is the first chance to hear the female vocalist presenting her tender voice, slightly reminiscent of Bjork, except less bizarre and much more delicate.
This obviously marks a change in the album, with heavier emphasis on the vocals. The next piece again offers some nice folkier segments together with a classical feel, where the female voice is predominant.
Ukraine's Child brings forth another successful combination in the merging of folk music with alternative rock (vocals).
Carmin is a jazzier affair with some nice electric piano work. It turns folkier yet again with the addition of strings and acoustic guitars. The rock element comes forward when the singer makes her presence known.
Ej Li starts off as another experiment – mixing classical music, rock and electronic (techno). When the vocals appear, it takes on a distinctly more techno, folk flavour, but there's always a progressive element present throughout (keyboards). The organ solo shows that this isn't your average techno party and when the violin and guitar reappear you know you're in Terra Mystica.
Inside Penetralia is a more typical rocker, but with some tremendously haunting vocal and keyboard themes.
The Finale is a return to their instrumental sound. The opening string work foretell a classical piece and this time they manage to remain fairly predictable for the entire length of the piece, retaining the classical feel throughout, which doesn't diminish the beauty of the piece in the least.
The bonus track Empty fits with the mood (or better – different moods) of the album, with a surf rock number to end things on a slightly low note. Still, the brilliance of the album isn't in question.

Every piece carries a different mood and almost a different style with it, yet the continuity of the album is undisturbed, as if switching from genre to genre is the most natural thing in the world. We can truly appreciate a band that knows what it's doing and still having fun. There really isn't a single aspect of the album that's lacking – we have some great string work, stylistically different guitar segments, versatile keyboards and any style you can imagine.

I probably prefer the first, instrumental part of the album, but the vocal pieces offer a totally different insight into the band, which you don't get in the first part. In any case, Terra Mystica could do no wrong on this album and I have no reservations calling it a modern day masterpiece. It's just a shame not more progressive music lovers embraced them as their own because they have tremendous appeal for fans of pretty much any subgenre.

Carsica is an extremely dynamic album with pieces ranging from sombre and introspective to pure fun and even experimentation. You'll have a hard time finding another album that's so easy on the ear yet so highly experimental at the same time. Carsica definitely stands as a musical milestone, at least for me, in showing me that it's still possible to create new adventurous music which is highly original. A masterpiece!

Bostjan Andrejc / guitars, flute
Danijel Cerne / guitars and harmonica
Veronika Sulic / vocals
Bostjan Gombac / clarinet
Uros Maver / keyboards, piano
Giulio Roselli / drums
Patrick Vlacic / bass