Cheiron Klangberg

A group unfamiliar to me, this CD was a bit of a gamble though it had been recommended. The German sleevenotes didn't tell me much more, however a small sticker gave the clue that Cheiron is one Dirk Radtke. Judging by the titles and track timings I expected another Teutonic sequencer based CD, which I really like anyway. Slight disappointment greeted the first encounter, however familiarity did bring its reward and this album now sounds better with each subsequent playing. The first track is the four part 'Klangberge' which is presented as one seamless piece. Their are distinct changes in tempo and style to differentiate the parts, with a classical opener reminiscent of Glyn Lloyd Jones developing into some rich textured synth work. Part 2 is a more sequenced/percussive piece while part 3 features the sounds of nature and more classical overtones. With part 4 we get wind, rain and a crash of thunder to introduce more rich sounding synth, concluding with a guitar/sax climax. 'Sphynx' opens with a very commercial sound and after a couple of minutes monotony starts to creep in, however just in time there is a complete change of pace and style with a deep slow section and piano, ethnic sounds and heavy percussion building to a dramatic finish. 'Nachtgedanken' again starts slowly but develops into a beautiful flowing piece with flutey synth and some good atmospherics. 'Gemini' returns to the orchestral style and develops into a more commercial sound than the rest of the CD, possibly because this is the newest track penned in 1995 (the others are 1990-94) and actually I hope this doesn't signify the future style of this artist! The short 'Invention' holds yet more orchestral overtones however 'Zeitreise' offers another 12 minutes of powerful and stylish music which builds slowly throughout the track with plenty of variation. The CD concludes with part 5 of 'Klangberg', another short classical style track. I feel that there is so much variety here that it would appeal to most synth music fans, and it's refreshing to hear a CD which doesn't follow the path steered by so many of today's artists. (Steve Smith)

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