CHROMIUM ECHOES

I am kind of overdue in rating this 1982 NEURONIUM "Chromium Echoes" or any of NEURONIUM albums . This release has good but anonymous ratings, so this is kind of unmarked territory and above all I will have to deduct if these ratings are unbiased or close followers' ones. In able of doing so I will go track by track in my review.

Prelude (4:04), opens with a windy sweet synth line accompanied by an acoustic guitar which sets a very promising start by using such a catchy and hypnotic riff, but eventually a very 80s brief drum box will certainly remind you of this project's date of release. 3.5 stars.

Chromium Echoes (14:19) follows up with a more average prog/electronic styling. So here we go! Even though its inevitable closeness to this sub-genres standards, a fairly creative and "darkish" tone makes this track first half come quiet unpolluted by other musicians idiom, but the next half of this track just comes too close to a nearby neighbor of the prog/electronic community Mr. Alan Parsons and not exactly his best trademarked sounds but his silly-tunes popish mainstream compositions, degrading the very good first-half into oblivion. 3 stars on the downrise.

The Neutron Age (17:59) the last track is close to dream- like electronic Cosmic environments, its slow paced dynamics, sets it free from its predecessor honey coated after taste. Resembling the mood of the first track, it brings on more passion and originality in all its first strongly marked, also, first part of 3. The second part promises a lot but quiet does not deliver something beyond mere good. The third part sets itself by a church like electronic prayer (vocals included) with a touch of cinematic greatness by the hand of a moog constructed melodic line, which might remind you of Rick Wakeman's or Keith Emerson's moogy ones. 3.5 stars.

Adding up a generous ***3.5 PA stars rating.

A soundtrack for an imaginary retro-futuristic landscape

Simply my favorite from the spanish band. A mastered mixture of pretty melodies with hypnotic sequence-driven passages, yet rather accessible. Furthermore, there is no weak track on the album. Maybe the most electronic of the five first albums, as it features very few guitar and singing.

Our trip begin with "Prelude" a nice, short, soft and melancholic piece, in the tradition of previous NEURONIUM tunes. The title track evokes the wandering into the ruins of a lost, ancient alien civilization. A slow track, but with a robotic spacey feel. The journey ends with "The Neutron Age", the highlight of the album. A real masterpiece, with multi- layered synths flows, harmony and melody, psychotronic meditative passage and its aerial finish. Unreal.

This album deserves attention of TANGERINE DREAM, KLAUS SCHULZE or JARRE's lovers.

Unfortunately this record is last one with Carlos Guairo. The quality will decrease in the following albums.