Chris Bickley – Digital Reflection (CD)

This is US guitarist Chris Bickley’s second effort (it should be noted he also plays with the resurrected 70s American rockers Thunderhead). His first album, Tapestry Of Souls, was a good start, but on Digital Reflection he has definitely perfected his crafts. The album has a better flow, stronger song material and definitely a way better mix. Yes, this is a (mainly) instrumental guitar album, but Chris does write really good songs where the guitar handles the “vocals”, so not only a lot of shredding, but actual melodies. Chris is backed by bassist Dino Fiorenza and drummer Gaetano Nicolosi, both great musicians who provide a solid foundation for Chris guitar playing. Dino also does some pretty impressive slapping here and there. Furthermore, Jimmy Pitts fills out the cracks and crevices with some nice keyboards. The album also features some other guest guitarists, such as Adrian English and Mike Abdow. The songs range from mid/up-tempo rockers to soft and nice ballads such as Arigato and one of the two vocal tracks, Tragedy (sung by Steve Johnstad). The other vocal track is a surprising cover of Iron Maiden’s Wasted Years, sung by Teri Lane. She does a good job, even though I would have wished for a bit more edge and a little less vibrato. It’s a good track, but I honestly don’t think it fits that well into the rest of the material. If Chris would’ve made an instrumental version it would maybe have been a bit more fitting. Well, the rest of the material kicks ass, and it’s a great album indeed! Shredding is alive and well!

Janne Stark

Country: USA

Year: 2017

Label: Shredguy Records

LARS LIND - Soul Kicker (CD)

One thing I hate is an instrumental guitar album without good songs and with programmed drums. Well, I’m happy to say Lars Lind’s album Soul Kicker is the direct opposite. First of all, John Macaluso on drums, that just can’t go wrong. The bass work is handled by Simon Fitzpatrick and the keyboards by Jan-Fredrik Heider, and these boys do a killer job as well. Furthermore, Lars is a melodic, yet technical, bluesy and very all-round guitarist. I really like his tone and guitar sound, very nice and crunchy, but not overly distorted. The songs are really strong with the right balance between melodic, almost vocal “verses” and shreddy solos. It’s definitely not any “shred for shred’s sake” album, but an enjoyable musical ride. He’s less metal than Joey Tafolla, more rock than Steve Morse, less shreddy than Vinnie Moore, actually more in the vein of fellow Norwegian Mads Eriksen, but a bit better in my opinion. A classy CD, well worth checking out!

Janne Stark

Country: Norway

Year: 2015

Label: Self-released/Shredguy Records

Video: https://youtu.be/Mfh-v2YwEaY

SEAN BAKER ORCHESTRA – Game On! (pro-CDR)

Shredguy Records is providing us with yet another top-notch guitar oriented release. This is definitely not your ordinary shredding metal album. Besides the orchestrated and quite interesting intro, just check out songs like D.T.O.C., the groovy and detuned Hercules Box, the almost Journey sounding Coming Up Roses and Ruth Ann, and of course Sean’s interpretation if Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke, actually featuring horns. To be honest, the latter is my least favorite on the album. I really like the song to begin with, and I think Sean could’ve done something more exciting with it, plus the horns sound quite disconnected from the song at times. It could be the mix, where this song doesn’t sound as good as the rest. A minor flaw, though. Of course all shredding fans with get their ears full. The track Shrapnel In Your Ear presents, besides the outstanding Sean Baker himself, shredding colleagues Marc Rizzo, Toby Knapp and Bruce Bouillet. A slice of shredding heaven indeed! Despite being a guitar album, there are two vocal tracks: The grindingly heavy Necessary Evils featuring Racer X man Jeff Martin and the soft Spooky handled by Ronny Munroe. Another Shredguy release to check out!

Janne Stark

Label: Shredguy Records

Year: 2015

Country: USA

TOM KOPYTO – Resurrection (CD)

Shredguy Records gives us yet another modern day shredder. Fortunately Tom is using real musicians, no programmed drums and no half-assed mix, which has sometime been an issue I’ve had with several of today’s instrumental guitar albums. Besides delivering a sonically very pleasing album, Tom is an outstanding guitarist. He’s quite technical, yet he has some really cool ideas and twists, which shows in songs like the dissonant Into Another and Naked In Death. Resurrection will definitely file under metal, yet it’s quite diverse. There’s some stuff that gave me an Ohm (Chris Poland) vibe, while some stuff had some touches of classic metal. The excellent Let Them Fall has a bit of both worlds with Tom laying down some fierce melodic playing on top. He’s a got an awesome, clear tone that can cut through glass, yet it’s full of feel and sounds very pleasing. There’s a bit of Blues Saraceno mixed with Satriani, at the same time as I can hear a touch of the aforementioned Chris Poland. It all melts together very nicely giving Tom a sound of his own. In my opinion, one of the best Shredguy releases to date! Highly recommended! 

Janne Stark

Year: 2013

Label: Shredguy Records

Country: USA

ADRIAN ENGLISH - Innerplanetarium (CD)

To tell you truth I wasn’t a big fan of US shredder Adrian English’s debut album. It was shred, ok, well over the top, but it felt very stiff and sterile. I’m happy to say with English’s second Shredguy Records release I have been converted and convinced. This album shows a totally different musical delivery. This time with a great bass player and drummer in Ryan Morrow and Chas Chantrell. This time it also feels it’s more about the songs than just the over-the-top shredding. There’s a nice diversity in the song material with some really cool grooves and riffing going on. English has also put some more time and effort into playing for the song. One of the cooler tracks is 10 Ways where there’s a lot happening in the background riffing. Adrian does shred, and he shreds a lot, but he never really overdoes it this time. He does cool down a bit and throw in cool melodies, which I really like. There are songs that really really hit home with me such as the cool Paranormally and the ballady Velvet Rain where Adrian at least tries to restrain himself (and does pretty well, adding some nice harmony work to the mix). Harmony Creek is another slow ballad where the melodies rule for the most part. He really shows he does have a nice sensitive side to his playing. Nice tone, great playing and an overall really great song. Album closer Closure shows another side as well, where Adrian brings out the acoustic and shows he does his thing also in this context. All in all a really great album, which shows a guitarist that has taken a huge leap since the first album. Well done, indeed!! Janne Stark

Label: Shredguy Records

Year: 2011

Country: USA

Link: www.myspace.com/shredguyrecords