By: Nick J. Hinton
ith the sheer wealth of new guitarist's flooding onto the scene at the moment,
although each and every one of them has something unique to say (well,nearly!) the
average six-string enthusiast and music collector must consider the possibility
that perhaps 1 in 10 of these new players provides something so unique and fresh
on the instrument, it almost leaves the others behind. I remember saying a few issues back that I don't think I
will ever tire of hearing great guitar being played well, even if it is someone
playing the same scales and notes as the last person. Yet I also mentioned that
beneath this is a secret challenge, an unwritten code, an eternal promise that the
next someone will not only play with a fire and precision to match his peers, but
will take what they've done and move it forward in his own inimitable style. Lets
be honest, with an instrument like the guitar, there's so much scope for
individual artistic impression and interpretation - another reason why I hope
people will be listening to great guitarists long after I'm gone (although
considering I'm only 27 - I hope that will be quite a while!). Now I don't want to
give you too much of what you may think is a false introduction here because as
USA born Michael Orlando candidly claims, " No one is going to re-invent the wheel
at this point". And tastes vary so much in this field that you may not think Michael has even moved the
wheel. Yet for fans of intense shred,(and be warned, because this is intense with a
capitol 'I') Michael Orlando, for me has made one of the most extreme guitar albums
since Jason Beckers 'Perpetual Burn'. Some claim, but I wouldn't say it if I didn't
mean it. OK, your thinking,so it's another Neo Classical burn out. Well that's only
part of the picture. You see Michael has taken the most gruelling workouts and
finger drilling exercises from such players as Joe Stump, Chris Impellitteri etc
but merged them with the most inspired moments from players such as Joe Satriani,
Steve Vai or Paul Gilbert - even Eddie VH can be heard here. Sound like your cup of
tea? Good. So we've established that Michael can play, and his death defying runs
and techniques take his compositions into the next universe. But can he structure a
decent album and hold your attention for a 50-minute journey. Well I'm
afraid to say,YES! Mixing blues with jazz, funk with rock, metal with prog and
shred with,er,more shred, whatever the backing the guitar calibre is always on 100.
Quite far from being over-produced, this actually has quite an earthly and basic
production to it, yet Drummer Steve Tobin provides more than just a backing track,
and he locks in perfectly with Orlando making this release that bit more special.
In the selected moments where Michael does calm down and let you get your breath
such as the more cerebral 'Horizons', 'Velvet Sky' or the truly captivating 'A
Moment in Time', his soul is exposed on the instrument and the many faces of his
playing continue to impress. Yet the other 9 tracks will shake and rock you with
slick grooves, cool riffs and cheeky blues runs. Like I said, Michael has created
enough variety and an interesting enough backing for this to stand out from the
vast shred wannabes out there. Yet it starts and ends with the playing, and I think
that if Michael can get enough exposure on the strength of this album then he could and
should be the next guest on the next G3 tour. If your one of these people who shies
away from complete showing off and in your face guitar, ignore this and go and buy
Daniel Palmqvists new album instead (superb which it is!). Yet if your like me and
think that 'talent' shouldn't be a dirty world in this backward world of musical
shite, then hopefully you will love 'Sonic Stomp' as much as I did.
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