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Neo Orchestral
Metal, or Neo Classical Metal, is one of the most ambitious genre’s to
enter into as the array of fine guitarists throughout the world doing this
type of album is on the definite increase. One of those high on the
A-list of guitarists is one Michael Harris.
Michael plays
all instruments on this album except the drums. This particular
forte is left to Matt Thompson, who I must say does a sterling job.
The album
borrows influences from some of the best known classical composers
including the likes of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and the like. But
also takes something from some names that are not so familiar, with
Krzysztof Pendereki and Allan Petterson the names that Harris himself has
named as inspirations because of their captivating ideas.
The album itself
opens up with ‘Opus Conceptus’ and from the off the sheer brilliance and
ostentatious feel of the album is there for all to hear, with its haunting
keyboards and quite outrageous guitars, this opens the gates for a flood
of idiosyncrasies and subtle mood swings, outlandish yet spellbinding
riffs that fill this album.
The album takes
a definite heavier feel with ‘String Theory’, another track jam-packed
with some almost impossible guitar riffs and the added strings and
Thompson’s thunderous drums make this one of the outstanding pieces on the
album.
As you're just
getting into the album and strangely thinking of subscribing to Classic
FM, the album twists the knife a little harder with the quite outrageous
‘The Mad Composers Rage’. Think ‘Enter Sandman’ meets ‘Flight of The
Bumble Bee’ and you won't be far wrong.
After the last
track things take a more sedate feel whilst still retaining that all out
classical metal assault, with another great track ‘Notes From The Kursk’,
with its almost Eastern Block spy thriller feel. This one will have
you rocking all the way to the Kremlin.
But track, no
musical piece on the album for me has to be the quite extraordinary
‘Battle at Storm’s Edge’, with Harris pulling out all the stops on this
one and Thompson laying down the supporting artillery fire. This one
just oozes class.
The swings from
the sublime to the quite outrageous continue as things slow down
considerably with the next track the genteel soundings ‘Guiprice’ and
continue with ‘Mysterioso’, two tracks that gently sway by the ear drums
and enter the very nerve ending of your soul, quite superb!
The album enters
the more traditional metal zone with ‘Octavian II’, a real shredders
delight as Harris lets rip once again, before we enter the other end of
the spectrum with the heavy cello and strings and Spanish guitars of ‘The
Anti Shred’.
This quite
superb album comes to a close with another shredders delight this time the
with the rampaging guitar fest that is ‘Schozo Forte’, which brings to a
close one of the most entertaining albums of the Neo Classical/Orchestral
genre I’ve heard this year and although Harris himself has said that this
will be his one and only Neo Orchestral record, I’m sure he can be
persuaded to once more venture into this quite awe-inspiring genre one
more time. |
