RUNAWAY TOTEM - ZED - 1996

When a band takes this big a step from their first album to their second, one has to stop and take note. Runaway Totem's first effort Trimegisto from a few years ago was a mixed bag of dark gothic influences, classic Italian progressive stylings, and strong hints of Zeuhl, with only a general sense of direction - perhaps because the lineup appeared to be unstable. So given that, the last thing I expected was a cohesive follow-up album like this - two sidelong multi-part suites "Zed" and "Mnar", covering a full range of musical emotion from soft drifty sections of multi-part vocal harmonies to outbursts of blistering fuzzed dual-guitars and everything else in between. The basic band is a four-piece of two guitars, bass, and drums, the two guitarists sharing vocals with a guest lead female voice, two backing voices, and Marco "Ohm" Olivotto (TNR) on Mellotron and piano, who also did the album's sound and mixing. Occasionally the material seems a little too ambitious, and at those moments the band seems a little exposed and vulnerable, but overall it succeeds. Folks who love Mellotron will get plenty of it here, along with occasional guests on flute, clarinet and other keyboards. The vocals are all in Italian, very heavy and stylized. Both tracks seem to be in a constant state of evolution, alternating between the diverse extremities of the Runaway Totem sound. Indeed, this is an album of extremes, dark and sinister versus spirited and celestial - yet it's one which seems to make more sense with every listen.
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