EGG THE UNIVERSE

The second offering by Teru's Symphonia was delayed for over three years and the reason propably was the complete lifting on the line-up with only Terutsugu Hirayama remaining from the first album.He recruited Magdalena's female vocalist Tokuhisa Megumi, Pale Acute Moon's leader Motoi Semba on keys, drummer Hide Furui and bassist Yasushi Inoue.Hirayama of course remained the main composer of the group, as also taped on ''Egg the Universe'', released in 1988 on King Records.

The important line-up changes did not have an impact on Teru's Symphonia's style.This is basically a Symphonic Rock album with some ethereal melodies on guitars and synthesizers, accompanied by the decent vocals of Megumi and lots of Classical references on the orchestral passages akin to MUGEN.The album though lacks some of the haunting moments of the debut and reasonably contains the always present cheesiness of 80's Japanese bands with this plastic-sounding parts aka the floppy bass lines and fake-like sampled orchestrations, but these are quite limited compared to the unique grandiosity of guitars and synths.The arrangements remain at a very good level, sometimes lowered by the average quality of the 80's productions, and the tracks are long and interesting with bombastic symphonic textures, sharp and inventive keyboard flashes, measured but powerful guitar moves and cinematic interludes with a beautiful atmosphere.Additionally the moves from highly grandiose parts to dreamy soundscapes are executed in a very nice way, thus overcoming all the aforementioned disadvantages.

This is one of the rare occasions of an 80's band that still rooted its sound on traditional Symphonic Rock and the result is quite impressive.The recording's flaws might bother the listener of more traditional prog sounds, but again the attempt rewards at least some fair listenings.Recommended.