Virtuosity with a Heavy Hand
5
By Storming With Menace
Joe Stump has delivered, again, but has definitely upped the ante in a number of ways. Most notably, the production quality of this album is much cleaner and more focused than his previous work. You can very clearly hear that he has matured enough to allow the other instruments to evolve and form a pronounced framework for his intense virtuosity. Each instument is clearly stated and an integral part of the whole, not drowned out or backstaged.
But, Fear Not, Shredheads, this lineup of white-knuckle mayhem will raise the hair on the neck of even the most accomplished, jaded guitar freaks out there. Only a person without a pulse will fail to find themselves scooping their jaw off the floor as they are assaulted by the Messiah!
Mr. Stump has penned and performed a variety of tomes only an elite, miniscule fraction of guitarists can even dream of playing, and he does it with an incredible precision and flair. One of the things I have consistently enjoyed with Mr. Stump's music is his heavy, often dark, catchy metallic rhythms. No goody-goody stuff here, this is strictly hammer-meets-the-anvil. A sure sign of the maturation of his songwriting is the necessity to listen to the parts of each track several times before you can begin to digest the whole. These are not one-listen songs, they grow with each listening. There are, of course, those who would say "There are only so many times blazing fast harmonic-minor runs, blistering legato, lightning arpeggio sweeps, etc. etc. etc. sound interesting. Been there, done that, blah-blah-blah," but, hey, this is Shred, it comes with the territory. If the shoe fits... I won't diverge into each individual song; suffice to say if you are a fan of Shred, this is at the tip-top of a very small pile of steaming, ultra-yummy goo.
One caveat: If you don't like blazing neo-classical metal shred guitar, this probably won't change your mind. If, however, you appreciate incredible technical skill paired with an increasingly unique songwriting personality, check this out. Mr. Stump is often criticized for over-emulating Yngvie, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the variety of ear-chiseling on this outing. And, as Vader said to Obi-Wan: "The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master."!!!!!!!!!!!
