Norbert Krüler aka Shamall has created his own niche between prog, space rock and electronics in almost three decades. Time for a great retrospective of his work. The artwork and presentation of the 5CD box are outstanding, because each of the CDs has its own spacey-meditative cover. In the booklet you can also discover the musical journey of Krüler, who has made his way from a self-taught fan to a one-man adventurer in spacey prog.

Each CD covers two to four original albums. Shamall’s development can be traced well this way. From sounds still strongly influenced by the late eighties from the Enigma passage to rattling, massive electronics with a strong anthemic character to the more floydy sound that one knows from him most recently. Not all of it convinces to this day, but “History Book” is still a well worthwhile star ride.

CD 5 then brings some new material that was left over from the last studio album “Turn Off” – also available as a single CD under the title “Continuation” (which is a very good purchase decision). The balancing act between spherical passages and powerful driving guitar and synth solos works especially well here (similar to Maxxess). Also Oldfield-like elements can be found here and enrich this immensely dynamic cosmos….

c/o Eclipsed Rock Magazine, Walter Sehrer, September 2016