Last 3 purchases

My last 3 CDs, purchased not downloaded.

1. I Built The Sky- The sky is not the limit

From the Land of Oz, I Built The Sky is the working name for Rohan Stevenson. I believe there are many more like him Down Under, someone who's incredibly talented with traces of eccentricity & enjoying every instrumental moment. Not forgetting the touch of heaviness on all tracks, he reminds me very much of Chimp Spanner (Paul Ortiz). 

2. Plini- Handmade Cities

Still treading Down Under, Plini is Vai-approved. No, he doesn't play like Vai but Vai identified him as 'forward thinking' & 'harmonically deep' (Steve Vai, Nov 2016). From this brief description alone, we can sense some adventurous shredding in there with a learned verse of melody. Please do not approach this release strictly from a shred perspective but there's enough shred in there to appease the guitar geeks. A very polished production could be heard here as well.

3. Zachary Breaux- Groovin

I was moved to get this one after hearing his track, Eleanor Rigby, in the Beatles' instrumental tribute album, Come Together. A great sense of funkiness with smooth jazz to boot, every track here is definitely easy listening. FYI, Zachary Breaux suffered a heart attack while trying to save a drowning man in 1997 (RIP). 

Got new CDs?

2 more acquisitions from Inokii, a little delayed update but nevertheless:

• Abiotic- Symbiosis What can I say but this is a stunning release, a proper LP from this Floridian quintet. Another proof that technicality doesn't get in the way of brutality if there's much thinking in the process. For fans of  The Faceless/ Job For a Cowboy
• Paul Gilbert- Vibrato What can I say but this is a sub-par release by the fretboard maestro. I have the following tracks left on my playlist: Rain & Thunder & Lightning/ Put It On the Car/ Blue Rondo a la Turk/ The Proghorn. The rest of the tracks had been deleted because they contain vocals, not dissing Paul Gilbert for his singing abilities but they have nothing for me, to say the least. This is perhaps the fuzziest Paul Gilbert release ever, as such, Gilbert did the wise thing by not focusing on the shred but more on the melodies. So be advised if you are looking for some inspiring guitar technicalities & come across 'Paul Gilbert' in planet Google- this album is certainly not one to look forward to guitar-wise.

Recent acquisition (CDs)

Recent CDs purchased from INOKII:

• Kiko Loureiro: Sounds of Innocence 
• Merrimack: The Acausal Mass

Kiko's SOI is brilliant but don't expect anything too refreshing. This guy has the chops & he arpeggiated his phrases well. I'm not too inclined towards technicalities, really, it's about making an impact & SOI has it.

Well, well, well, Merrimack dropped a notch in terms of tempo here but the remain a foce to be reckoned with in the black metal circle. Yes, you'd hear some Watain in there, that's the best parallel I could refer to but the melodies could have been more focused.

New CDs...

Recent purchase:

• Steve Vai- The Story of Light... I actually misplaced this, it's in one of my guitar bags. Glad I found it.
• The Faceless-Autotheism... Michael Keene is one of the most talented players in this music genre. I couldn't give this a miss.

CDs

Just received my new John 5 & Marduk... weekend listening, it seems.

New CDs

Just got these new releases:

• Job for a Cowboy: Demonocracy. I used to ignore these guys, namely because their earlier albums were devoid of solos. I thought they weren't as competent as guitar players, banking on intense riffing to get by until I watched some clips of Ravi & Bobby giving guitar tutorials. Subsequently, Bobby was the cover artist for the Ibanez 2011's catalogue so that meant much to me. Sadly, Bobby & Ravi are no longer in the band but Alan Glassman & new shredder Tony Sannichandro did extremely well to propel the band's establishments.
• Jeff Loomis: Plains of Oblivion. The highly anticipated 2nd release by Loomis; not as cutting as Zero Order Phase but there's much thought in this product. Loomis' collaboration with Ihsahn in Surrender is fantastic to say the least.

Current spin

Some new release I've acquired (from Inokii) & listening to:

• Meshuggah: Koloss. I'm a big fan of the band (not just the guitar duo there). The current music scene has a label genre for what these guys have been doing for years- DJENT. It's a pathetic label, Meshuggah had been peddling heavy music their style, people appreciate what they are doing & attempt to refer to it conveniently. One more time: There's no djent, just Meshuggah & the music thereafter.
• Naglfar: Teras. A re-emergence by one of the flag bearers of black metal, not quite refreshing but essential.
• Borknagar: Urd. Still listening to this one, holding back all opinions on it.
• Morbid Angel: Illud... remixes. Majority of the tracks here are annoying. But I'm glad I bought it. Strange, but true... more on this to come.