adg211288
Я - легенда (2014), which I believe should be Latinised to Ya - Legenda, is an EP release by Russian heavy metal act Terratomorf and their first release overall. It features five songs, one of which features guest vocals by Артур Беркут (Arthur Berkut), former singer with heavy metal act Ария (Aria). Ария are considered a leading act of the Russian heavy metal scene so his presence on Terratomorf's very first EP is no doubt a bigger deal in their home country than it seems to me here in the United Kingdom, where I must confess I have never actually heard of Ария.
Terratomorf's music mostly fits within the traditional heavy metal vein but there are also elements of thrash metal and power metal on the EP. While the thrashy edge is quite minimal to my ears, in that they never really seem invested in it enough to go anywhere with it, the band has a real good go at making a heavy power metal track in the closing Город души, which to my ears is the best offering on Я - легенда. The mix of both heavy and power metal riffs gives the song more depth than the previous songs and it has a stronger sense of melody in the guitar playing, something I find extremely lacking in the earlier tracks which are pretty much just bland riffs and Russian sung vocals. The singing is good but the performance isn't as totally commanding as I'd like it to be on a heavy metal release.
With only one song out of five showing their potential Я - легенда isn't the most recommendable start that Terratomorf could have had but it is early days yet. Anything could happen from this point.
