ZED

My third adventure into the land of the Runaway Totem. This was an improvemnet over the debut released three years earlier. The sound is expanded here to feature an orchestra. Of the three albums I have listened to on the band's website, this one is the least Zeuhl-ish. The music here kinda sorta sounds like a mix of RPI, prog metal and Japanese Zeuhl. There is lots of Italian-style singing and heavy riffs. The album consists of two epics, the title track and "Mnar".

"Zed" begins with a very classical sounding orchestral part. Then we have a riff worthy of Black Sabbath. Wow. What an awesome riff! Around 3 minutes there is a part with female vocals that remind me of Koenjihyakkei. The section in the middle with phased Mellotron, bass, vocals and a guitar solo goes on a bit too long. Later on in this epic it gets rockin' with some nice riffs. Starts to mellow out near the end. The last two minutes sound majestic.

"Mnar" starts with the sound of aircraft flying overhead. Then a long atmospheric section. It starts to pick up with guitar later. Before 12 minutes there is some punk style guitar playing. 14 1/2 minutes we get another riff worthy of Sabbath. A piano part starts before 20 minutes. It has some vocals but think this part goes on too long. How "Mnar" ends is not as good as the way "Zed" ended.

Overall a really good album, but these guys are still not in 4 star territory for me yet. Better than Trimegisto(1993) but not quite as good as Esameron(2007). Of the two, Zed sounds closer to the latter. I can't wait to listen to their other albums; I know there's going to be at least one that will really knock my socks off. Zed deserves 3 stars.