Richie Kotzen - Richie Kotzen 1989

Format: ape + cue + log

Genre: Instrumental rock

Release Date: 1989

Label: Shrapnel

By the time of Richie Kotzen's debut album in 1989, Mike Varney's Shrapnel label was cranking out young guitar virtuosos like an assembly line; it seemed like each week, a fresh-faced teenaged prodigy would emerge from the Shrapnel stable with a self-titled debut, backed up by an all-star rhythm section. Pennsylvania's Richie Kotzen was one of these. With bassist Stu Hamm and ex-Journey drummer Steve Smith behind him, he added yet another all-instrumental shred guitar album to Shrapnel's catalog. But, fortunately, he avoided many of the cliches that plagued many of his contemporaries. Rather than attempting wide-screen neo-classical melodrama, his style here is offbeat and humorous; witness the hilarious stop/start dynamics of "Unsafe at Any Speed," with its cartoonish scherzos and ridiculously over-the-top blasts of rapid-fire guitar fills. Kotzen obviously owes a debt to Steve Vai here, but adds his own quirks to the formula. The production assistance of labelmate Jason Becker also helps to distinguish Richie Kotzen from the other predictable-sounding stuff on the Shrapnel label; the record is mixed bone-dry instead of reverb-drenched, which adds a more personal charm to the proceedings. Both Kotzen's chops and tone would improve greatly over the next year or so, but this is an interesting entry in the genre nonetheless. ~ Andy Hinds, Rovi

Epica - Feint 2004 (2MCD)

Format: ape + cue + log

Genre: Gothic/Sympho Metal

Release Date: 2004

Label: Transmissi

Simone Simons: Mezzo-soprano vocals

Mark Jansen: Guitar and grunts/screams

Ad Sluijter: Guitar

Yves Huts: Bass

Coen Janssen: Synthesizer and piano

Jeroen Simons: Drums

FEINT is a four-track EP by Epica. The release contains previously unavailable and alternate versions of already released songs.

Double single taken from the goth-metal band's 2003 debut album 'Phantom Agony', features eight tracks on two CDs. Disc one features the title track, 'Feint', b/w 'Leif Al Din', & two non-LP tracks, 'Feint' (unreleased piano version) & 'Triumph Of Defeat' (unreleased instrumental track). Disc two features the title track, 'Cry For The Moon', b/w 'Run For A Fall', & two non-LP tracks, ''Cry For The Moon' (unreleased single version) & 'Run For A Fall' (unreleased single version). Transmission. 2004.

Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot (1999)

Format: flac + cue + log

Genre: Progressive Rock, Metal, Instrumental

Release Date: 1999

Label: Sensory

AMG Review
Star-studded projects often add up to very little, but Gordian Knot's eponymous debut turns out to be one of the best progressive rock albums released in the last years of the second millennium. And that's thanks to the fact that Sean Malone held on to the reins, guiding the project to its goal of finely crafted guitar-driven instrumental songs. Malone has a prog metal background, so do most of his guests (Cynic drummer Sean Reinert, King Crimson guitarist Trey Gunn, Dream Theater bassist John Myung, along with Ron Jarzombek and Glenn Snelwar). And yet the album only has a couple of tracks that can be qualified as "metal" ("Rivers Dancing," "Singularity"). Everything else falls into the guitar craft of the likes of David Torn and Robert Fripp. "Galois" opens the set with a seductive soundscape. "Code/Anticode" is the album's main showcase, an intelligent prog rocker with a solid rhythm section and a catchy modal melody. "Reflections" manages to make a menacing metal verse and a classical guitar chorus walk hand in hand like two lovers. "Srikara Tal" and "Redemption's Way" work as a soloing frame over a slightly North African percussion backdrop. They feel a bit overstretched, but the guitar work adorning them is worth the extended durations. The album ends with "Grace," a delicate ballad played on the Chapman stick that dissolves into soundscapes to take listeners back to where they started. If it weren't for a couple of overlong or self-indulgent tracks, this album would be a masterpiece. As it is, it still deserves the attention of any guitar fan.