Jeff Loomis-Jato Unit

Now this review may come off as a little biased as I myself an an avid guitar player probably woodshedding it for nearly four hours a day myself, so I shall try and remain nuetral on my review haha... that being said, in my opinion this album is fucking awesome.

With the advent of Satriani's Surfing With the Alien, modern shred guitar was born and above all acceptable and cool, alongside that was another great album released by one Yngwie Malmsteen by the name of Rising Force, and thus was the inspiration and the birth of Jeff Loomis. Shunning a social life and friends to become as close to his idols as possible, he managed to quickly carve out a niche as a unique and prolific shred god in his own right, even having the confidence to try out for Megadeth at only age sixteen. Now onto the album!

As you'd expect upon first listen, the album reeks of Nevermore, which in my opinion is never a bad thing. The first track bursts into a very chunky very heavy and very well executed octave harmony, while the melody carries on a very expressive feel, almost akin to the vocal stylings of Warrel Dane ironically enough, but it compliments the song very well. The next song, Opulent Maelstrom starts off with a very dissonant jazz inspired melody which is personally music to my ears. The track Jato Unit could have been taken directly from a Nevermore album, but not bad by any means. Regardless of Loomis' shred prowess this album showcases a wide variety of styles and elements, showing fans a new facet of his abilities if anything, all the while inkeeping with a style we are all too familiar with.

Now I'm a big music fan, my guitar focus currently being on jazz and blues guitar and I study theory and composition like a man possessed so I can appreciate musical talent in whatever genre it may be. First and foremost (and always), however, I am a metalhead and as such I always appeal to things of a darker dissonant nature. Most of you other guitar nuts will know that other shred oriented guitar gods as it where have a wide array of skill, and emotional expression which often times presents itself in a major, whimisical tone... and personally that is something that never really appealed to me too much. Happily I can say that this album (although prone to the mandatory ballads as every shred instrumental album is. See the track azure sky) has all the elements that make say a Malmsteen album great, while still remaining very dark sounding all around, and very unique in its own right.

So if like me you are a guitar fanatic, but moreover a metalhead, and you need an escape from the often happy and varied seventies rock tone of your paul gilberts and steve vais, this album is definitely for you. It also goes without saying that if you're a die hard Nevermore fan this album is definitely a must have. In anycase words can only go so far and a review is merely an expression of ones personal opinion so give it a listen yourselves and enjoy.

-O. Nocturne