Style: Progressive metal (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Mors Principium Est, Jeff Loomis, Intervals, John Petrucci, Per Nillsson
Review by: Zach
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 3 September, 2022
Video games are art, and have been sidelined for years because every news pundit thinks Mario and GTA are the only two games that exist. But for those of us who did grow up in the mid-2000s before the triple A game industry became a plague upon humanity, we got a front row seat to some of the greatest pieces of art known to man. Ones that will go largely ignored because, well, they’re video games. I find myself massively critical of games, especially as I’ve gotten older, finding that some of the creativity is lost with the seemingly unlimited options devs have now. However, my criticisms come with a caveat. The better an OST is, the more lenient I’ll be on a game’s flaws. Final Fantasy 7 looks old, sure, but have you heard what Nobuo Uematsu did on a fucking PS1 soundcard!?
Most bands boasting a video game themed gimmick not named Last Chance to Reason are going to be on my “avoid” list until the end of time. It would be different if bands were trying to make songs that looped in the style of OSTs or a Mega-Man X cover album, but invariably, it’s chiptunes over some deathcore chugs and sped up shredding. But Andy Gillion is such a seminal guitar player in melodic death metal that I couldn’t help but check this out. Seeing that the first track had Yuzo Koshiro, the composer for Streets of Rage and Shenmue on it, my worries quickly turned to intrigue.
To the surprise of absolutely no one who’s listened to the many great albums of Mors Principium Est, Andy Gillion absolutely shreds. The man has three thousand great lead lines and enough riffs to last most guitarists a lifetime. Combine that with the drumming of 66samus and you’ve got a formula for something incredible. So, all my trepidation seems to be melting away in a pot of video-game-shreddy goodness, right?
Well, mostly. There really is a lot to love here, aside from the Gillion signature style of riffing and solo-ing. There’s a million guest spots and I nearly had a heart attack seeing that Jeff Loomis and the actual final boss of guitar, Per Nilsson, were two of them. Two of my favorite guitar players have two absolutely insane guest spots, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that their tracks are the standouts of the album. Loomis’s neoclassical style works so well with what is essentially a massive homage to Castlevania.
I must say, it was surprising to see not only a Matt Heafy feature, but one without his vocals. I don’t think it comes as a surprise to any Trivium fan that he can absolutely tear up a guitar neck, but ‘Tokyo Street Massacre’ felt the closest to something straight out of a Mega-Man X level. The sleeper hit of the album was ‘Megadrive’ which is the perfect union of chilled out synthwave and Paul Wardingham’s guest solos. As a metal fan first and synthwave fan second, this was an absolute treat.
But what sets this apart from every other video game-themed metal project out there is that each track clearly represents the level it’s inspired by. I can’t explain it very well, but you just know what to hear when entering certain stages, and ‘Damn You Water Level!’ is probably the perfect example of that. ‘Final Boss’ is just as dramatic as it’s supposed to be, but the ensuing ‘GAME OVER’ feels like it should’ve been called ‘Second Phase’ or something along those lines. For an album that does a fantastic job of conveying video game levels up to that point, this song feels completely misnamed.
The biggest problem I have with this album is a problem I have with most shred albums. Everything here is technically impressive to the highest extent, but every song blends together. It’s clear that so much effort was put into this album, and I hate to put it down over this, but I honestly had no standout moments on the first listen. It was on repeated listens that motifs and solos became clear to me. However, this album grew on me ever so slightly with each listen. Overall, if you want a soundtrack to your late-night coding sessions, or to just feel like you’ve been transported inside a game, this album’s for you.
Recommended tracks: Tokyo Street Massacre, Final Boss
You may also like: Christian Muenzner, Joel Lindfors, Dimitry Demyaneko
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Andy Gillion is:
– Andy Gillion (everything)
0 Comments