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Runaway Totem Feat. AndromacA — Metaphorm Tetraphirm
(Black Widow BWR283, 2025, 2CD+DVD)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2026-03-07

Metaphorm Tetraphirm Cover art

Runaway Totem is now down to one man, multi-instrumentalist and composer Roberto Gottardi (guitars, synth guitar, keyboards, programming, percussion, theremin, and vocals). On this latest musical excursion, Metaphorm Tetraphirm, Gottardi recorded a live performance in 2024 at the Ex Abbazia San Bernardino, Genova (a small church) accompanied by the group Andromaca: Antonella Suella (soprano), Stefano Bertoli (synthesizers, Synclavier, taiko, gong, and singing bowls), and dancer Clara Luna. The first disc is one long 46-minute performance, broken into movements with some familiar titles: “In den Garten Pharaos,” “Future Days,” “Father Cannot Yell,” “On the Run,” “Stratosfear,” and “Deutsch Nepal.” If you are expecting covers of Popol Vuh, Can, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, and Amon Düül II, you would be mistaken. This long performance is uniquely Gottardi’s, though there is some very slight similarities to Popol Vuh, but not as cold, a possible resemblance to Can rhythms with the “On the Run” rhythm beginning in “Father Cannot Yell,” but Gottardi soars with “Stratosfear” after a four minute intro, which he then lands with “Deutsch Nepal,” an atmospheric piece with Suella’s wordless vocals that eventually turns dark with Amon Düül II’s minor chords, not what you would be expecting. It appears that Gottardi used used these song titles as points of reference for this 70s experimental Krautrock / Kosmische Musik homage. If you don’t approach this first disc with preconceptions, this long performance is quite an accomplishment. Disc two contains five individual Gottardi compositions, though in between each track Gottardi provides some commentary in Italian that is very difficult to comprehend given the acoustics of the church. He sounds like he is deep inside a cave for each of the one to two minute introductions. It would be an improvement if these introductory remarks were edited out. The five tracks are a bit top heavy on the high end with the crystalline electronics wearing on my ears. “Ritual Thanz” is a slow dark atmospheric piece with what sounds like tabla and wordless singing. “Indian Dream” has a promising beginning with tamboura like drones, but then moves off into a more abstract electronic composition with a Bladerunner vibe. “Heliocentric Energy” may be the best track once you get beyond the trebly electronics. This track owes a lot to 70s Tangerine Dream, especially with the pentatonic throbbing sequence that leads to Froese guitar hero riffing. “Mekanik Ritual” is very different from everything else on this two disc set. Here we have Gottardi channeling Magma with his harsh chanting and strident rhythm. Interestingly, the overall vibe is more melodic than Magma. The disc closes with the 25-minute “Tat l’Albero Cosmico” that mixes Gottardi’s love of Magma, tabla, and electronics with an impressive growth of intensity towards the end. There is also a companion DVD of the concert, but that was not provided with the promo, so I cannot comment on it. Overall, an impressive album.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Runaway Totem

 

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