The Glorious Power Metal Age of Terra Atlantica

The Glorious Power Metal Age of Terra Atlantica

Terra Atlantica is a dynamic power metal band from Germany whose glorious anthems are destined to inspire music fans all across the world.  Age Of Steam is the name of their latest magnum opus, now available via Pride & Joy Music, and it’s grand auditory journey well worth seeking out.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed vocalist / guitarist / captain Tristan Harders to find more about the epic reveries of the almighty Terra Atalntica.  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Terra Atlantica, and how long the band has been together.
Hello! My name is Tristan Harders, I am the singer, guitarist and composer of Terra Atlantica. This band has been formed in the end of 2014 by our drummer Nico Hauschildt and me. Since then we already had a few changes in our lineup regarding bass and lead guitar, the lineup as it is now was just formed this year.

Where is the band based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
Our main base is in Hamburg, Germany, which has been the high castle for power metal a long time ago. Nowadays we still have a big metal scene but sadly, representatives of our subgenre are very rare. We are about the only band around that plays power metal like this.

How did you wind up signing with Pride & Joy Music?
When the new album was finished, we sent out applications to different labels and we got a very quick and very positive reaction from Pride & Joy Music. Also, the communication was great, which had always been an issue with our last label, so we had no doubts in signing the deal.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Age Of Steam title?
Yes, as our first album has already been a concept album with a storyline pulling throughout the album, we now are continuing this story. Atlantis, which was destroyed by the rage of the gods rises again to the surface in the 19th century, contributing to the industrial revolution by the invention of steam power. This leads to a conflict with the British Empire, resulting in the stealing of the light of Atlantis, which has to be retrieved by our heroes to prevent the second destruction of the city in the war about to come.

Select two songs from Age Of Steam and what inspired the lyrics.
The album opens with ‘Across the Sea of Time‘, which describes how the Atlanteans managed to return from the realm of the dead. You see, my concept of life is that our bodies are just vessels we use to sail on the sea of time. These vessels ineviteably sink at some point because of the rough conditions and we have to start again on the shore. Anyhow, if one manages to cross the sea of time the laws of life and death are defied and it is possible to change the course of history. This story is of course heavily influenced by Pirates of the Caribbean Part 3.

The next song I’d like to mention is ‘Gates of the Nethherrealm‘: In this song the hero of our story enters the underworld of Hades to retrieve the light of Atlantis, which is incarnated in the form of a mermaid. He has to sail on the river Styx and down the fall of Cocytus, which causes the ship to break but the ancient souls of Atlantis help him. Later he has to get past the hellhound Cerberus, which is of course only possible with the power of music. All this stuff comes from the Greek mythology, which I always found tob e good power metal material. Maybe one day we will make a whole album about this stuff.

Who did the amazing cover art for Age Of Steam and how much input did you have in it?
The cover artwork was done by Dusan Marcovic. We hired him for it because we saw him do artworks for other bands and found it awesome. We described to him what we had in mind for the cover and surprisingly he immediately did exactly what we had in mind. It was love at first sight.

What has it been like to release new music right in the middle of a pandemic? Have you had any shows or tours cancelled because of it?
It sucks. We had a big release show planned because of course we want to present our new material to the audiences. Two festival gigs had to be cancelled and of course we can’t do any planning ahead right now because nobody knows how things will turn out in a few months.

What could one expect from a live Terra Atlantica show?
One could definitely expect a lot of action on the stage. Sometimes Poseidon steps in and attacks the band. We try to deliver our music not only by sound but also by visuals. And of course there will be a lot of loud singing along to the choruses.

What was it like opening for Majesty and Stormwarrior and were you able to meet or hang out with either band at all?
It was very exciting for us because we had already been fans of those bands for years but never met them in person, let alone been granted the opportunity to play with them. It was also a good match because the audiences seemed to like us as well. We still have contact to some of the members of the bands and meet with them sometimes, which is very cool.

If Terra Atlantica could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
If it were to be a band from the present, I would say Gloryhammer because they have the same idea of power metal as we do. It has to be epic but also fun and games. If it were to be a band from the past, I would say the younger Edguy. They were so awesome back in the days of Theater of Salvation and Mandrake. Now they hardly seem to exist anymore.

When you look back on the first album A City Once Divine, what do you think of it now?
I actually listened to it some days ago and was really shocked about the production quality. I mean the songs are still good but compared to our second album, the sound quality and also my singing are lacking a bit of power. But that’s also a good sign because it means we managed to improve the quality of our music one hundred percent at least.

Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of Terra Atlantica?
At the moment not because I don’t have time for that. I do also have a death metal band called Forsaken Hill and some solo stuff, but nothing active right now. I would like to get involved with other projects as well in the future though. It’s always fun to do cooperations with other bands.

What’s up next Terra Atlantica?
Hopefully when the pandemic is over we will be able to do a tour with the new album. Maybe with two other bands together. Would be cool. Apart from that, we will be working on the third album, which is already quite far in the process of writing.

Any final words of wisdom?
Don’t ever stop listening to power metal, keep the spirit alive! And buy our new album and stuff if you want to support us 😉

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Terra Atlantica Line-up: Tristan Harders (vocals, guitars), Nico Hauschildt, (drums), Julian Prüfer (bass), Frederik Akkermann (guitars)

Terra Atlantica on Facebook