What Tomas Lindberg has named as the logical continuation of his musical career in THE GREAT DECEIVER does not have anything to do with At The Gates (or Lock Up, The Crown) and what is wholehearted praised as Hardcore is nothing else than modern melodic midtempo Nu Metal.
In between Lindberg and his Diabolique mates let flow in electronic sounds, give some stakkato-resque rhythms to the guitars now and then and experiment with clean vocals (e.g. Lake Of Sulphur and The Heel On The Throat Of The Young). With it, Terra Incognito sounds much more matured and more homogeneous than its predecessor the debut A Venom Well Designed, but cannot detract from the fact, that the band either did not found its own style yet or if the guys knowingly focus on the mainstream, earning some money. For the first assumption the band uses electronic elements and the clean voice too diffident, they don’t experiment enough. For the second one … well, won’t be successful as well, because there are already to many bands in this genre, who are much more consequently and more innovative in their work.
Production is great, it rocks and it grooves, no doubt! And there are riffs breaking your neck immediately. Lindbergs charismatic voice adds something special to the music. But all that is not enough making Terra Incognito in its entirety to something special, something striking. Not at all. Most of the songs just pass by without leaving any impression. Terra Incognito is just on an average.