I was contacted directly regarding a review of Curt Shaw's latest release and I was impressed. His style is under the category of heavy metal which the album so much demonstrates raw and utter talent to a starving musician. The music on here is wholly original and diverse. There are acoustic guitars mixed with heavier rhythm sections and lead guitar that was quite impressive. The rhythms are catchy as they go along well with the leads. A pure, solid heavy metal instrumental album.

The music is quite "happy" sounding at times and doesn't display a more grim style. The songs are decorated clearly to sound as good as heavy metal sounds alongside a solid production sound. All of the instruments are mixed in well together. Nothing is left out. The bass, acoustic guitar, keyboards, electric guitar and drums fit well in this release. It reminds me of Joe Satriani's 'Flying in a Blue Dream' (1989) but is a bit heavier. Not by much though. Solid recording.

I really like the rhythms and leads that accompany them. Most of the album illustrates effective lead guitar bits that are pouring out like crazy. The rhythms just accompany them directly and feature solid chord progressions amongst the awesome leads. You'll find that Curt plays arpeggios, sweep picking and tremolo picked parts to his leads. Really awesome raw talent if you ask me. It's too bad there are no vocals that accompany with this album.

What you'll find here is an experimental album featuring guitars overdubbed and leads that display amazing amounts of diversity. The acoustic bits are featured only a few times alongside this amazing instrumental album release. Best to listen to the leads because they are the most prominent. The rhythms are wholly original featuring power chords galore and are unique sounding. Not too many talented guitarists like this nowadays. Too much technology goes into the recordings. I don't say that this one is though.

Overall, the entire album can be listened to repeatedly new and feature guitars that are quite memorable. If you just want a chill album then this is it. It's not brutal by any means. It's simply a mixture of heavy metal keyed with keyboards and synthesizers. Not too many though, only during a couple of songs. What you'll hear mostly are the leads. They dominate over the rhythm guitar exceedingly. Check the album out if you're needing something to kick back to. Amazing talent displayed here!

Rating: 8 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
05/29/2012 17:40