The Italian musician Roberto Gottardi is the driving force behind Runaway Totem. They were founded in 1988 and have already released eleven studio albums. Their twelfth album, titled C R E A T O R S, came out in 2024. However, it reached our desk one year later. On this new album Roberto Gottardi is, as was expected, the most important person. He plays guitars, synthesizers, synth guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals. He is assisted by what he called the Intergalactic Totem Arkestra. Consisting of some well-known names. Who doesn't know saxophone player David Jackson. He rose to fame as the saxophonist/flutist of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator, where he left an important mark on the group's sound, including playing two saxophones at the same time. Another legendary person contributing on flute is the late Nik Turner. He was best known as a member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner played saxophone and flute, as well as being a vocalist and composer. In Italy Martin Grice is a rather well know musician. This flautist and saxophonist played on albums released by Delirium, The Bo Bo's Band, The Warren Davis Monday Band, Zuffanti And ZBand and many more. Less known is vocalist Sophya Baccini. But maybe you know her from her solo albums or working with the band Presence. Rather new in the progressive rock scene is Emanuela Vedana. She is the female lead singer in the Italian band Melting Clock. Furthermore, the Intergalactic Totem Arkestra contains the unknown musicians Maurizio Poli (vocals), Andrea Facchini (saxophone) and Simone Caruso (drums, percussions). Together they created an almost hour long album which is divided into two parts. C R E A T O R S and R E D S T A R. The album is not easy to digest for everybody because sometimes it sounds a bit chaotic. The music is a mix of Progressive Rock, Zeuhl, Space Rock and therefore it is easy to say that influences of Magma and Hawkwind are notable. Strangely enough the brass instruments dominate most of the time on the music you hear. Most of all the saxophone, which is played by Facchini and Jackson, can be heard on the entire album. But also, the two vocalist Baccini (Viators and Advent Deus) and Vedana (Universal Union) have an important role on the tracks on which they kind of wordless sing. Next to the two parts of music, which are also divided into several separate tracks, the CD and digital version of the album contains a bonus track. It features a cover version of a Blue Oyster Cult composition. Namely Alchemist taken from their 2020 album The Symbol Remains. The track is now titled L'Alchimista and is barely recognizable. The gritty hard rock of the original has been successfully transformed into a song on which the keyboards and saxophone turn it into a heavy prog tune. However, it fits perfectly to the rest of the songs that you can hear on this album. My musical highlights are the melodic Lemuria and the eastern sounding Remembering Betelgeuse. It doesn't mean the rest is less enjoyable. But those tracks are moving more towards a musical style which can be labelled as progressive rock. If you like bands such as Magma and Hawkwind and enjoy musical styles such as Progressive Rock, Zeuhl and Space Rock C R E A T O R S is the album to discover. All in all, a real good sounding professional album made by Runaway Totem! *** Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
