SKINSTRIPPER RELEASE "BRUTAL MACHINERY: VOL. 1"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Brutal Machinery: Vol. 1

by Skinstripper

Tracklist:

1.Chaos Activate 01:05

2.Burnt by the Cursed Earth 02:25

3.Atomic Wasteland Mutants 00:56

4.Brutal Machinery I 01:03

5.Brutal Machinery II 01:41

6.Brutal Machinery III 01:16

7.Brutal Machinery IV 00:43

8.Devoured by Devil Dogs 00:54

9.Reign of Toxic Death 03:01

10.Voyage of the Death-Grinder 04:51

This album reflects my musical journey and where I am at as a musician. I love Death metal, Grindcore and shred so I combine them into my own version of extreme guitar music. I'm also a big fan of Sci-fi and sci-fi horror movies. Hence the references of a lot of my song titles.

released August 15, 2019

All music written and arranged by Grant Lazenby. Recorded, mixed and mastered at the Distortion Dungeon.

Skinstripper is a Death-Grind Shred project formed by Grant Lazenby in 2013 in Durban, South Africa.

https://skinstripper.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/grindshredder/

https://www.instagram.com/skinstripper/

CURT SHAW RELEASE "SILENT ASSASSIN"

 

PRESS RELEASE:

Silent Assassin

by Curt Shaw

Tracklist:

1.Bridge to Nowhere 06:24

2.Never 05:28

3.Gypsy 04:40

4.Crops in the Fields 04:01

5.Carriages 01:54

6.A Kings Ride 02:53

7.The Strange Trip 03:36

8.Hammer 2 05:01

9.Return of the Samurai 07:31

10.Pursuit of Happiness 05:22

11.Blue Mule 02:11

This is Curt Shaw’s long awaited second release featuring intense guitar shredding, with complex song structures. Also featuring Allen Lind on drums.

released January 12, 2012

Curt Shaw - Guitars and Bass

Allen Lind - Drums

https://curtshaw.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CurtShawMusic

REVIEW: THE GREAT KAT - WAGNER´S WAR

 

THE GREAT KAT - WAGNER´S WAR (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: The Great Kat

Tracks: 1- Wagner´s The Ride of the Valkyries for Symphony, Orchestra, Band and Opera Singers, 2- War, 3- Terror, 4- Punishment, 5- Humiliation, 6- Liszt´s Hungarian Rhapsody #2 for Symphony Orchestra and Band, 7- Sarasate´s "Zapateado" for violin, piano and Band

Mixed by Dug and The Great Kat

Engineered by Brian Harding

The Great Kat has been combining her two favorite styles (classical music and hyper wild metal) since the late eighties. The Great Kat here shows us again her hyper fast riffs and solos (and also her super speed on the violins that she plays with great skills). On this recording she has chosen to combine her own composition which are really wild and shredding with her adaptation of classics by Wagner ("Ride of the Valkyries"), Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsody #2) and Sarasate ("Zapateando"). The tracks are short and played at full speed, but The Great Kat doesn´t miss a note and plays the classics and her own compositions with total accuracy. The Great Kat´s compositions are played at full speed and are really wild, going from ultra fast thrash (with screaming and guttural vocals) and adding a lot of classical arrangements and parts. Drummer and bass player have done a big effort to follow the speed of this track without losing the timing. Lovers of guitar will surely have to check this album.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.greatkat.com

REVIEW: PETE LARAMEE - ALONE BUT NOT LONELY

 

PETE LARAMEE - ALONE BUT NOT LONELY (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Pete Laramee and John Grant

Tracks: 1- Call the Feds, 2- The Rope Swing, 3- Adena Watson, 4- Charlie Brown Wins the Lottery, 5- La Media Gringa, 6- Too Much Eggnog, 7- Split Personality, 8- Walking the Walk, 9- Survivor

Recorded at Cyberella Studios 

Pete Laramee is a guitar virtuoso who also plays in the great progressive metal band Kurgan´s Bane. Here he shows a different side of his musical personality, an instrumental side full of great melodies and virtuosism. On this CD Pete is joined by Sonus Umbra´s rhythm section (Jeff Laramee on drums and Luis Nasser on bass) on most of the tracks to develope nine tracks of great compositional and guitar work. In some parts Pete´s guitar is crying and in others he is expressing a lot of different moods with his instrument. There are beautiful acoustic moments like the ones in "Adena Watson" where there is an appearence of Kurgan´s Bane´s vocalist Lisa Francis doing some background chants. The main thing here is the good taste that Pete has for soloing and for composing beautiful melodies through all the tracks. Really inspirational for guitar players and lovers of instrumental music.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.kurgansbane.com

REVIEW: MATT MILLS PROJECT - MATT MILLS PROJECT

 

MATT MILLS PROJECT - MATT MILLS PROJECT (Independent , 2002)

Produced by Matt Mills Music

Recorded at Bottom Dollar Studio

Cover Art by Matt Mills

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Discovery, 3- Drive, 4- Twilight Part 1 , 5- Dark Travel, 6- Castles, 7- Twilight Part 2 , 8- E Minor 9th, 9- Solo, 10- Introspection, 11- Opus, 12- Outro

Matt Mills is a killer neoclassical guitarist. His music can be compared to musicians as Joey Tafolla or Tony Macalpine. He has made this instrumental album comprised of 10 songs an intro and an outro. The songs are sometimes more neoclassical style, sometimes more in a fusion style (like for example on "Drive". He plays here with two excellen musicians that help him with the rhythm section: those are Brian Sanders on bass and Drew Franklin on drums. The three together make this really tight trio for Mills compositions. Here Mills shows us his great taste in guitar lines and solos (check for example "E Minor 9th to see how tastefully composed are the guitar melodies). And he also plays a solo piece in "Solo" showing his classical influences. A must for guitar players and musicians and for everybody who likes neoclassical musics and superb musicianship.

Favorite tracks: "Discovery", "Castles" and "E Minor 9th"

Contact: mmills97@aol.com

REVIEW: MAGNUS ROSEN - IMAGINE A PLACE

 

MAGNUS ROSEN - IMAGINE A PLACE (Heptagon Records, 2000)

Recorded at Bohus Sound Studios

Cover Art by Per Wik

Tracks: 1- The Key To Your Soul, 2- Land of Spirits, 3- Imagine a Place, 4- Anchanted Wood, 5- Gate To Heaven, 6- First Steps, 7- Romance, 8- A Temple In China, 9- Blues Man, 10- Open Heart, 11- A Memory, 12- Past Future, 13-Newborn Waterfall, 14- A Church Without walls, 15- A Relationship in Tokyo, 16- Infinity, 17- Castle Garden, 18- No Name

Here we have the solo album from Hammerfall´s bassist and after listening this CD I can not find a reason why he does not play this type of bass lines in his main band. This could help a lot to set the band apart from the one million power metal bands that are everywhere that do the same galloping over and over again. Rosen here plays a lot of different styles but the main one is jazz. He is joined here by Biggi Vinkeloe on sax and flute (she is a really great player) and by his partner Ander Johanson on drums on three tracks. Here Rosen has found an appropriate vehicle for his musical personality which he can not reflect in Hammerfall. Check all the bass lines and melodies that he makes here to see what this guy is capable of doing. Come on Magnus!! Show the guys in Hammerfall how to do it in a more original way

Favorite tracks: "Land of Spirits", "Castle Garden" and "A Memory"

REVIEW: TRANSMISSION OK - THE SKY, THE STARS AND THE GREAT BEYOND

 

TRANSMISSION OK - THE SKY, THE STARS AND THE GREAT BEYOND... (BMG, 2000):

Technical data:

Mixed by Tom Weir at Tom Weir Recording Studio

Produced and Engineered by Blues Saraceno

Artwork by t42design.com.

Track List: 1- Swimming, 2- Rocketship, 3- That Kind of Girl, 4- Fiberglass, 5- The Reason Why, 6- Wishing For More, 7- Coward, 8- Superstar, 9- All Good, 10- Smokin´Jesus, 11- Supermodel, 12- Low

Transmission OK is the new band from ex Poison axeman Blues Saraceno. Obviously the music here is melodic rock with modern sound (there are a lot of seventies and nineties influences here, specially on the sound). The music is completely different from what Blues used to do on his previous band, here he has more controlo on the composition and he has laid completely on alternative rock using melodic hooks in a completely different way than he used to do. He has also space to play different type of solos (always in the context of the songs). The band that supports Blues here is really solid and makes a great surrounding for this good musician. Favorite tracks: " The Reason Why", "Superstar" and "Smokin´Jesus". Contact: www.transmissionok.com

REVIEW: STEVE VAI - ALIVE IN AN ULTRA WORLD

 

STEVE VAI - ALIVE IN AN ULTRA WORLD (Sony Music, 2001):

Produced by Steve Vai

Track List: Disc 1: 1- Giant Balls of Gold, 2- Burning Rain, 3- the Black Forest, 4- Alive in an Ultra World, 5- Devil´s Food, 6- Blood and Glory, 7- Whispering a Prayer, 8- Iberian jewel

Disc 2: 1- The power of Bombos, 2- Incantation, 3- Light of the Moon, 4- Babushka, 5- Being with you (in Paris), 6- Principessa, 7- Brandos Costumes (Gentle Ways

Mr. Steve Vai, surprising as always brings us his latest work. And this time it is a double CD with all brand new songs. Each of the songs here was composed with a country in mind and they were all recorded live during the "The Ultrazone Tour". As he is doing since his albums with Zappa or since his first solo album "Flexable" Steve has a myriad of weird sounds to do with his guitar. This time he is joined by great musuicians such as Mike Mangini on drums, Phillip Baynoe on bass and Mike Keneally on guitar and keyboards. The songs are as always an amazing show of his compositional skills and obviously of his guitar pirotecnics. A must for any Vai Fan. Also, there is one song recorded live in Argentina, when he came last year. Favorite tracks: "Whispering a Prayer", "Light of the Moon" and "Alive in an Ultra World". Contact: www.vai.com

REVIEW: RANDY COVEN - THE BEST OF RANDY COVEN

 

RANDY COVEN - THE BEST OF RANDY COVEN (Koch Recs,, 2000):

Technical data:

Produced by Randy Coven and John Stix

Produced for re-Issue by Dave Squillante

Artwork by Brad Wrolstad.

Track List: 1- Funk Me Tender, 2- Yesterday, 3- Tree, 4- Toronto Blues, 5- Manhattan Mama, 6- Great Necks, 7- Strange Cat, 8- 10000 Notes, 9- Au Privave, 10- Angry, 11- I Wish, 12- Two Girls, 13- S-Bass Secrets, 14- Minute Mouse, 15- E-11, 16- Monday

Everyone knows that Randy Coven is a great bass player...he has show this on his solo albums and in works with guys like Steve Vai or his band Holy Mother ...or even playing live with Yngwie Malmsteen. This time what we have here is a compilation of his best solo tracks...coming from his solo albums "Funk Me Tender" and "Sammy Says Ouch!". There are plenty of guest musicians here like Steve Vai ( "instantly recognizible on "Funk Me Tender"), Vito Bratta, Blues Saraceno or Al Pitrelli to name just a few. Randy shows all his skills through his compositions and through some covers like The Beatles "Yesterday" ...obviously played with bass (a great version). And he also shows that as every good musician should be, he is really open minded and knows how to play in many different styles (Check for example the acoustic and almost country "Tree"). This is music for lovers of virtuosos and instrumental music. Favorite tracks: "Funk Me Tender", "S-Bass Secrets" and "Manhattan Mama". Contact: www.randycovensite.com

REVIEW: WARMTH IN THE WILDERNESS : A TRIBUTE TO JASON BECKER

 

WARMTH IN THE WILDERNESS : A TRIBUTE TO JASON BECKER (Lion Music, 2001):

Track list:  CD 1: 1- A little ain´t enough, 2- Altitudes, 3- Eleven Blue Egyptians, 4- A Jam for Jason, 5- Higher, 6- Becker Ola, 7- Dogtown Shuffle, 8- Go Off, 9- Hammerhead Shark, 10- Jasin Street, 11- If you have to shoot…, 12- Baby´s on Fire, 13- Sensible Shoes, 14- ESP, 15- Air. CD 2: 1- Opus Pocus, 2- Mandy´s Little Throbbing Heart, 3- Blue, 4- It´s Showtime, 5- Becker´s Bolero, 6- Lydiás House, 7- Drop in the Bucket, 8- Forcefield, 9- Urmila, 10- Black Station Jam, 11- Hawking, 12- Primal, 13- Rain, 14- Concerto, 15- Tell the Truth, 16-Outro Jam.

This is for me (and because of my love for Jason Becker´s music) one of the album of the year. Hear there are, 31 tracks cellebrating the music of Jason Becker, the great guitarist, the great composer, the great man. This album is full of great musicians and it would be unfair to mention some of them and not mention them all, but because of the lack of space I will mention some of the contributors to this great recording: , Chris Poland, Vinnie Moore, Marty Friedman, Steve Morse, Phantom Blue, Carina Alfie, Rolf Munkes, Torben Enevoldsen, Paul Nelson. And there are many many more playing through the songs here. The material is based basically on the "Perpetual Burn" and "Perspectives" solo albums, on the two ecellent albums that he did with Cacophony and on the album Jason did with David Lee Roth, plus there is some original material here too!!! This is a must for every guitar freak !!!. Favorite tracks: The whole 2 CD set !!!.Contact: www.lionmusic.com

REVIEW: MIKE CAMPESE - TOTAL FREEDOM

 MIKE CAMPESE - TOTAL FREEDOM (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Virtual Sound Recording Studio

Remastered by Ted Malia - May 2001

Produced by Mike Campese

Cover Photo by Dan Castle

Track List: 1- Amberay, 2- Sea, 3- Thunder and Rain, 4- Sun, 5- heaven, 6- Jungle, 7- Last Train Out, 8- Blizzard, 9- Indian War, 10- Space, 11- Freedom, 12- Jewels

A great acoustic piece "Amberay" opens this CD of guitar maestro Mike Campese. Great taste, technique, great compositional skills is what Mike is all about. He can play from the most delicated acoustic texture to the heavier than hell riff or solo. Total Freedom is an album full of great guitar melodies and it explores the solo side of Mike Campese, because this is an album of solo guitar (only accompanied by some keyboards here and there). There are some overdubbings, so you can listen to Campese doing the melodies and the chord progressions at the same time with really good taste. Some of the tracks reminded me of Marty Friedman´s solo album "Scenes" or tu some of David Chastaín´s acoustic pieces. There are also some bluegrass and fusion influences too. A must for guitar fans. Favorite tracks: "Thunder and Rain", "Jungle" and "Blizzard". Contact: www.mikecampese.com

REVIEW: MIKE CAMPESE - FULL CIRCLE

 

MIKE CAMPESE - FULL CIRCLE (Independent, 2001):

Track List: 1- Touch the Sky, 2- Torches, 3- Dark Aqua, 4- Happy Snow, 5- Burgundy Mist, 6- Scatterbrain, 7- Africa, 8- Angel, 9- Velvet, 10- Crash and Burn, 11- In the Mirror, 12- Bourbon Street, 13- Whole Steppin, 14- Walkaway, 15- Tinted Windows, 16- Rescue Me, 17- Loralie

Here is the newest album from guitar virtuoso Mike Campese. This CD shows us a less introspective side of his playing than the one in "Total Freedom" his previous CD. Exploring melodies and moods through all the recording using different textures and guitar arrangements seem to be Campese´s main goal. And he has achieved it. It is really great to see how much technique this guy has and how well he uses to fit his songs (the good thing is that he puts all his knowledge to create the best songs that is possible instead of showing how much he can do on the fretboard). Check for example the semi-acoustic "Torches" with its darker sounding melodies (in fact here we can listen to some flamenco-like playing). Or check the beautiful Vai/Satriani/Macalpine/Chastain like melodies on "Dark Aqua". Plus the sound of the recording is incredible. Mike Campese is one name to be known when you talk about guitar. Favorite track: "Torches", "Happy Snow" and "Velvet". Contact: www.mikecampese.com

REVIEW: MIGUEL SIGALES - EL LUGAR DE LOS MILAGROS

 

MIGUEL SIGALES - EL LUGAR DE LOS MILAGROS (Independent., 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded /Mixed at Swami Records-November 1998.

Engineer: Miguel di Genova

Layout and Graphics by Gustavo Alonso

Track List: 1-Navegante hacia el fin de los mares, 2- El lugar de los milagros (Brutal Confusión), 3- Cerca de la fuga, 4- Más que mil palabras, 5- Hazme Libre, 6- 1911, 7- Sueños "Scaramouche", 8- Paisajes de ayer, 9- Presto.

Miguel Sigales is a great guitarist and composer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. And this is his instrumental debut. His style is somewhere between Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Greg Howe and Tony Macalpine. It is really great to see how much technical skills and feeling this guy has. In fact what is interesting from Sigales playing is the fusion of styles in his playing from neoclassical runs to really rocking licks all done witth freat taste. The tracks are really well developed and I liked a lot certain aspects like the power and the sound of the band that supports him (including the drums samples that are mixed very good and they don´t sound thin). I would like to listen more from him, and he is playing live this month....I am not going to miss it. Favorite tracks: "Más que mil palabras", "1911" (with a lot of clean guitar) and "Sueños "Scaramouche" . Contact: sigalesguitar@hotmail.com

REVIEW: JAMES BYRD - FLYING BEYOND THE 9

 

JAMES BYRD - FLYING BEYOND THE 9 (Lion Music, 2001):

Technical Data:

Recorded at Brian Hutchinson Studios, Strange Practical Productions.

Produced by James Byrd

Engineered by Brian Hutchinson

Cover Art: Photo: Robert Whitworth , Concept and illustration: James Byrd

Track List: 1-Flying Beyond the 9; 2-Dark heart; 3-W.T.O. (We Took Over); 4- Nevermore; 5- Everything to Me; 6-Unity (While You Were Sleeping); 7-Paradise Tonight; 8-All of Me (An Allegory); 9- Avianti suite Op.1, Nº63

 Guitar God James Byrd has been shredding people´s mind with his amazing guitar playing skills since the eighties when he was the main guitarist in Fifth Angel. After Fifth Angel´s disolution he started a solo career with acclaimed albums like "Atlantis Rising" or "Octoglomerate". Now it is time for James to return to action with "Flying Beyond the 9" and this is not an instrumental album it is something in a hard rock vein like for examples Tony Macalpine´s album "Eyes of The World" but heavier. "Flying beyond the 9", the first song is full of vocal ahrmonies and the shredding of Byrd. Michael Flatters is a good vocalist for James Byrd´s music, he canbe commercial when he wants and stronger when the song need it. For those who don´t know Byrd´s guitar shredding, here are the elements that made him famous: fast scales, arpeggios, sweep picking, neoclassical runs and the use of harmonic minor scales and phrygian modes. There is a certain influence of seventies progressive rock in this album, specially on the vocals parts (some Yes in parts of "Nevermore" but drker) and certain Yngwie Malmsteen shades in Byrd´s playing too. There is in this recording also a beautiful instrumental called "Avianti Suite Op. 1 Nº63 with synthesized strings and Byrd´s tastefully playing along. My favorite tracks: "W.T.O. (We Took Over)", "Unity (While You Were Sleeping) and "Paradise Tonight". Contact: www.lionmusic.com or www.jamesbyrd.com

REVIEW: SYMPHONY X - SYMPHONY X / THE DIVINE WINGS OF TRAGEDY

 

SYMPHONY X - SYMPHONY X / THE DIVINE WINGS OF TRAGEDY (NEMS Enterprises - 2001): This is the reedition of the first and third album from one of the main power progressive metal bands Symphony X done by NEMS Enterprises in double CD format in a great packaging that includes the lyrics from both albums. The first CD opens with a solemn introduction ("Intro The Dementia") before getting into the clasic "The Raging Season" with amazing choruses (in the vein maybe of Queen) incredible solos (this is a prove of the originality of Michael Romeo for those that say that he is only a copy of Yngwie Malmsteen. The songs are really well constructed (around guitar and keyboards obviously) and doesn´t show the vocals of the great Russell Allen (that is featured in the second CD presented here "The divine…". Songs to remark here are the before mentioned "The Raging Season", "Masquerade" (with that great keyboard/guitar harmony intro), "Absinthe and Rue" (killer guitar riffs , keyboards and double bass drumming) and "Tauting the Notorious" (a power metal race !). The second CD, "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" shows us a more mature and heavier Symphony X with better musicianship, an inmense sound (it is light years far from the one that was in their debut album) and a much better singer (Rusell Allen) with a lot of personality and that can give power and melody to all the songs. "Of Sins and Shadows" opens the CD with great strength and refinement. You can see the band is more tight and is not so focused on Romeo´s guitars or Michael Pinella´s keyboards as it was before (eventhough there are solos all over the place)…in this case the drummer and bassist shine a lot more than on the first record. Songs to point out: This is a killer album and the whole CD has great quality in its musicianship, in the compositional side and in the power/strength side too. If I have to pick one song to sum up it will be "Sea of Lies". Contact: nems@nems.com.ar

REVIEW: PAUL NELSON - LOOK

 

PAUL NELSON - LOOK - PROMO CD (Independent - 2001):  Virtuoso guitarist Paul Nelson (Liege Lord) unleashes melodies and chops through all the song that compose this promo CD called "Full Blast". Nelson is a great guitar player as has been shown in his work with the beforementioned band and countless collaborations with diverse artists. This song is reminiscent of the shredding fever that was popular in the eighties. I can listen to shades of Joe Satriani, Vinnie Moore and Steve Morse but with a lot of personality in Nelson´s sound. Legatos, speed picking, sweep picking,are predominant aprt of Nelson´s style. I would like to listen the complete work because this guy has a total dominion of his instrument, creating passages full of virtuosity, melodies and good taste. Contact: Liegelord2@aol.com