HYPERBOREA

Having owned only an infinitesimal amount of TD's discography comparatively speaking, I'm not really sure where to place this among its predecessors and contemporaries. However, Hyperborea stands out in the band's 80s oeuvre primarily because of the Eastern flavor of opening track No Man's Land. A slow-burning, stuttering composition lasting around 9 minutes, it is a disjointed jaunt through the land of everlasting sunshine, as the album's mythological title suggests. Compared to proximal albums like White Eagle and Exit, there is a more fleshed-out sonic template being utilized here, but frankly the compositions are not as intrepid overall as the ones on the aforementioned albums. Chalk it up to personal taste, but there's not as much of a pulse to Hyperborea. It just lumbers along, but I can appreciate the range of moods here. Within the space of four tracks, it runs the gamut from quirky to menacing, while oddly maintaining a sense of homogeneity.