Zeno Roth: can this man be a relative of German virtuoso Uli Jon Roth or American 'show' rocker David Lee Roth? Hmmm...I'd pick up the first option. And - yes - this is a wise choice! The brother of the ex-Scorpions axeman is back - for those who are aware - and we could not expect a less interesting release than Runaway To The Gods. Hence, thumbs up!
Zeno Roth is now in his 'fifties'. Wow! A multi-instrumentalist - violin included! - he played and recorded with several German bands, but he was always 'unlucky' enough to follow his brother's fame in advance. Still, in 1984 he formed Zeno with Ule Ritgen (later on German Melodic Rock monsters Fair Warning) and - after inking deal with EMI UK and Warner Publishing - the self-tilted debut album was recorded. Guest appearances included Chuck Burgi (Balance, Blue Oyster Cult, Rainbow) and Don Airey (Alaska, Company Of Snakes, Deep Purple, Michael Schenker Group, Ozzy Osbourne, Phenomena, Rainbow) while the album itself is a fine blend of 'melodic' hard rockin' music featuring 'strong' songwriting and grand production. The LP - weird, huh? - did not achieve much at the time, but its 1993 Japanese re-release did sell quite well in Japan, eventually leading to the recording of Zenology in 1995. And what a great success this effort was, 'climbing' to various music charts!
Little did we have the chance to hear regarding Zeno till 2004, when another Zeno re-release came out via the MTM label (with some bonus 'goodies', this time). The renaissance of (now called) Melodic Rock 'helped' the album to reach the ears of a whole new generation, thus the interest for Zeno Roth and his 'traveling' melodies did rise again. Along with the Zenology II 'outtakes & rarities' compilation, Runaway To The Gods sees a brand new album made by Zeno Roth, this time enlisting Michael Bormann (ex-Jaded Heart, Rain, Red Rum) to the 'singer' position.
In terms of songwriting, not much seem to have changed in the last twenty years! This is not bad, of course, since all the tunes are very good, featuring great leads, essential 'keys' support and great hooks. In addition, Bormann's performance is - again- ass-kicking, giving added value to the songs. Whoever is familiar with the Zeno sound certainly knows what to expect; for the rest, imagine a style similar to the likes of Frontline, Jaded Heart and the rest of the German Hard Rock 'billing', plus a 'touch' of Dare/Ten's atmosphere and the 'neoclassical' (at times) influence of Zeno Roth himself. Normally, tunes like Land Of Illusion, Fanfares Of Love and I Feel - I Live will be instant hits, even if no single tune could be described as a 'filler'.
For the fans of European Melodic Rock, Runaway To The Gods is a good purchase. Nothing groundbreaking but an - overall - good release can it also be for Hard Rock lovers in general.