The Undiscovered: Dan "Sultan Of String"

Switzerland's Dan "Sultan Of String" submitted a two song CD-R demo showcasing his Asian and Oriental influenced guitar style. Heavily influenced by the solo work of Marty Friedman in a similar vein, the two songs are metal in structure and arrangement, with enough distorted guitars, whammy bar tricks, tempo changes and technical wizardry to satisfy the heavy guitar fan. The first song "Old Salt" has more of a Eastern feel to it, with bends reaching those sonic areas you might expect a koto to hit. The second song ("Yellowfant") is reminiscent of some of Jason Becker's solo work, a heavy number with a neo-classical sound and a taste of Asian. Despite the somewhat unwieldy stage name, Dan should develop his concept further, taking it to new areas the Cacophony team never dreamed of. His full length CD should be well received in that case.

Starting on a classical guitar at the age of 12, Dan later discovered jazz and funk rock and bought his first electric guitar, a Les Paul. He later played in his first school band, learning a lot of harmony, theory and rhythm from the other members of the band. Over time, Dan developed an Asian and Oriental guitar style, listening to the music of Marty Friedman and Jason Becker, as well as Asian singers, sitars, flutes, harps and Asian stringed instruments.

Encouraged by a lot of positive feedback, included a good word from Jason Becker, Dan plans to make an instrumental record in 2001 featuring guitar, sitar, Asian sound samples, etc.

Dan Kelly
Switzerland

Web site: www.sultanofstring.com