Artist: Jayce Landberg
   Title: Break The Spell
   Label: Escape Music

The name of Jayce Landberg may be unfamiliar with some but believe me this will soon be rectified after the word of his first solo album ‘Break The Spell’ gets around.

Landberg has teamed up with the vocal might that is Goran Edman and with Charlie Arvstrand and James Humphrey added into the mix for the album, you know this is going to be something special.  This album not only highlights Landberg’s excellent guitar work, but also Edman's towering vocals.

The album opens up the title track ‘Break The Spell’, and almost straight away you can hear the Malmsteen influences in the music, although with a more seminal Neo-Classical style as the likes of ‘Left On A Dream’ and 'Flirting With Your Wesson’ show so well.  Add in Goran’s visionary vocals and this album is just pure bliss to listen to as it ebbs and flows between the gentle melodies and the harder edged almost Melodic Metal parts.

One of those tracks that shows the harder edge of the album is the phenomenal ‘Land Of The Dark’.  This one has an a Dio-esque feel to it, whereas ‘Burning Bridges’ is a multi layered guitar piece, mixing early eighties AOR with a soaring guitar sound.

If I had to pick one track to call it my favourite then I'm afraid it would have to be two tracks.  Firstly the quiet superlative operatic piece ‘Dawn’ which features guest vocals from ‘Mio Jager’ whose operatic style lends this track to act as an intro into ‘Black Magic', a track that lays down the gauntlet for Goran to follow, which he does and the mix of great keyboards and towering guitar licks really make this the standout out track of the album.

The pace is brought down just a little with the gentle refrain of ‘New Generation’, before things are picked up once more with the stirring melodic metal of ‘Tell Me Why’.

Landberg is really let loose in emphatic style of the instrumental masterpiece that is ‘Kusamura’,which is 3.05 minutes of sheer guitar brilliance.

The album is brought to an all too premature close with the bonus track ‘Dance Of The Borderline’, an all out Metal guitar riff laden track with Goran showing his metal credentials on this one and Landberg shredding like a mad man.

This outstanding release will surely set the wheels in motion for Landberg and he will surely become one of the most sought after Neo-Classical guitar players of the future.

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