ANDROMEDA

The completion of ''Zed'' marked the end of a phase and the beginning of a new era for Runaway Totem, named Kalpa.At the end of the 90's the band would quit from performing live and focus on the first part of a trilogy named ''Cosmic cycles''.For this album they recruited a full-time keyboardist in Roberto Veronese aka Virhur.Additionally they moved from Black Widow Records to the French Musea label.The album was released in 1999 under the name of ''Andromeda''.

While they retained the obvious qualities of the previous album, ''Andromeda'', as part of the ''Cosmic cycles'' trilogy, required a bit of spacious components, so Runaway Totem ran the album with plenty of synthesizer in the forefront and some heavy, orchestral arrangements shining through.The epic and operating singing parts and the powerful Zeuhl activities are still strong elements in their music, imagine DEVIL DOLL playing a dynamic Zeuhl style, while the angular riffs, the dominant rhythmic guitars and the Classical-inspired organs make up for a huge, sinister and theatrical atmosphere.A set of five tracks, slightly over or under the 10-min. mark, passes through bombastic sections, grandiose orchestrations, dark soundscapes and mysterious vocals, they even added some ambiental textures in the process to unveal the album's cosmic enviroment.It sounds a bit more focused of a release compared to the previous works, this one is well balanced between haunting, symphonic segments and Zeuhl-like operations with emphasis on the flaming guitars and heavy keyboard work.

Music, that could have been easily performed in a cathedral.Sinister, atmospheric Heavy Rock/Zeuhl with elements of Rock Opera, nice and energetic arrangements and very irritating vocal parts.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.