The Esseness Project

The man behind this exciting new album project, guitarist Steve Smyth (Nevermore, Dragonlord, Testament, Vicious Rumors) is no newcomer in the metal music or shred guitar world, first being tipped for the top in Shrapnel Records president Mike Varney's "Hometown Heroes" column in the October 1993 issue of Guitar World magazine. The twelve songs (all produced and engineered by Smyth) are a collaboration between Smyth and his old friend and former bandmate, Steve Hoffman, a well respected classical and jazz musician, bass teacher and instructional author in Northern California. Smyth: "For this debut, Steve [Hoffman] and I went for more of a 'soundscape' type atmosphere, rather than focus purely on the shred factor. We wanted to focus on the song, not merely use this as a vehicle for shredding over." They also knew they wanted the best when it came to a percussionist. Enter drummer extraordinaire Atma Anur. Best known in the shred guitar circles as the man who drummed on countless legendary Shrapnel Records releases, Atma appears as special guest drummer on The EssenEss Project debut.Recording largely on their own, The Esseness Project take you on a 70+ minute journey through sonic landscapes that range from wildly progressive metal riffing, to experimental rock breaks, through to jazz fusion, with a whole host of other musical influences not normally associated with rock/metal, being stirred into the musical melting pot.