am Yelda is an independent artist from Canada who released his self produced album My Revelations earlier this year. The album contains 10 tracks which showcase a prestigious talent. Sam flawlessly runs through a mix of classic harmony, complex orchestration counterparts along with a great balance of slower melodic and blazing lead lines. These all add to making Yelda a guitarist of great taste and talent.
Opener Sarcophagus I is a dark track which sees Sam setting the mood before Sarcophagus II takes over building with impressive sweep arpeggios over a great backing track which is in the same sort of a hybrid of Yngwie's Perpetual and Leviathan, but the lead work takes you far away from any Malmsteen clone accusations. Dance With Magus begins at a pace before settling down for some moody lead lines. The title track "My Revelation" is a heartfelt piece of music that sees Yelda being extremely melodic, the track has some nice orchestration and the acoustic guitar solo midway through makes for a nice change of pace. This allows to hear Yelda's tone bare without any effects and shows him to be a clean player with an excellent touch. Invention 13 is a nice take on a JS Bach theme whilst Gypsy Sketches has a slow moody intro that allows Sam to show restraint in his playing adding a nice depth to the album before the track gains heaviness and is home to a good riff over which Yelda lays down some scary licks. Queen Of The Night is a very emotional track where Sam makes good use of volume swells, pre-bends and melodic harmonic minor passages and is probably my favourite track on the album. The Storm features vocals and is along the lines of early Rising Force in feel, a nice Celtic melody leads adds some more originality before the great riff comes crashing back in. Magnum Mysterium sees Yelda play some pure neo-classical lead lines over differing time signatures. Suite 18 is a nice melodic way to close the album ala the quiet section in Yngwie's Trilogy Suite opus 4. This calm gives the album a strong balance and shows Yelda's versatility once again.
With My Revelation Sam Yelda has obviously put a lot of time into the finer details of the albums compositions. Instead of a barrage of harmonic minor runs we get nice variation yet all the time staying true to the neo-classical basics. The production is very good for an independent production and it all points to a player that is certainly one to watch. An enjoyable listening experience.
am Yelda is an independent artist from Canada who released his self produced album My Revelations earlier this year. The album contains 10 tracks which showcase a prestigious talent. Sam flawlessly runs through a mix of classic harmony, complex orchestration counterparts along with a great balance of slower melodic and blazing lead lines. These all add to making Yelda a guitarist of great taste and talent.