CHIMERA

I've now been listening to the album for a longer time and the initial excitement has worn off pretty fast. It has good sides and bad sides, but mainly I think Andromeda have lost their innovativeness. Chimera is much more streamlined than the previous albums, with many songs relying on just one main riff (that is often very good though!) making the song structure much more basic. I sincerely hope Andromeda have not tried to make a more accessible album on purpose!

Chimera is packed with hit material, which is part of the problem. I don't want hit songs, I want progressive masterpieces! Periscope, In the End, The Hidden Riddle, Going Under, Inner circle and Iskendrun are very good,catchy songs, that might prove very successful for Andromeda, especially Persicope. The Cage of Me and No Guidelines have a few great parts but otherwise they do not keep the same standard as the rest of the album.

The ending track Blink of an Eye has a great piano outro with the Periscope theme, but otherwise the track is slow and a bit monotonous(I never though I'd say that about Andromeda!). I wonder if the track name is a coincidence or a subconcious association, since this album reminds me very much of Enchant...

The catchy riffs and passages stay in your mind, but this album is a disappointment for me. Andromeda was a band that had spectacular riffs and crazy, stunning song structures. This album does not stand out like the previous albums, it has good songs, but the experimental attitude is gone.

Now that I've had the chance to write off my dissapointment I can say that Chimera is still a very good album that should be checked out by prog metal fans. A weak 4. I was just hoping for another 5 star masterpiece. I'm sure many of you will love it!