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Non-Prog CD Reviews

Chris Fury

From Darkness

Review by Gary Hill

Here we have an instrumental album focusing on guitar hero like playing. It’s quite good and Chris Fury is very talented. The only thing is, it’s hard for a guitarist to keep it interesting through a whole album like this. Generally, it all starts to sound the same after a while. Fury does a pretty good job of avoiding that, but he doesn’t evade it completely.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
The Nexus

Screaming out of the gate, there is some metal in the mix on this scorching guitar rock instrumental. There’s a lot of melody to it and it really has a groove at its heart. I love the descending jam at the end.

All Funked Up
There is some funk in the mix here. Overall, though, it’s another smoking hot rocker with a groove and a lot of great guitar soloing.   
Byte the Bullet
Intricate and yet at times rocking, this is an acoustic guitar workout.   
Over Andover
This one feels a little proggy. That’s particularly true of the introduction. The guitar soloing main track, though has a more melodic vibe. It’s definitely got some progressive rock elements on hand. It shifts out later, though to something that makes me think of Black Sabbath a bit.
In Your Eyes

There is some truly inspired guitar soloing on this number. It’s more in the lines of a Joe Satriani type of song. There are some proggy moments and some crunchy ones, too.

Mogera

Starting off a bit more metallic, this rocker might be my favorite of the set. There’s a cool twisted section mid-track and this is less metal after that opening section. It has some cool twists and turns. A pretty, but almost creepy sounding, piano movement ends the piece.

Lost Transmission

Keyboards with a rather space rock like vibe start this. It works out to more typical melodic guitar based rock from there.    

Running Away
This is a good melodic rocker, The only problem is, the formula is starting to wear a bit thin. It’s all getting a little too samey by this point.
A Fire Within

A metallic edge that gives way to a fusion-like jam saves the early portions of this from the samey nature that threatens to plague much of the album. The scorching guitar soloing later does the same for the rest of the piece.      

From Darkness
A mellower, more intricate and proggy sound dominates this one.  
Autopilot Disengage
A hard rocking screamer, this one is good, but that monolithic nature weighs pretty heavily here. Even the awesome guitar soloing isn’t enough to keep this from feeling a bit like “I’ve heard this before.”
Last Breath

With a mellower, more acoustic driven arrangement, this one rises above the sea of sameness at the start. When it rocks out more, leaning toward metal, it doesn’t work as well (just because of the tired formula) but that section is only a part of the piece. There is a powered up jam later that lands near progressive rock, too. That section is stellar. Some jazzy elements after are nice, as well.

Mystical Journey

A diverse and dynamic cut, this has a lot of varying sounds and styles built into it. It really is quite a journey. There are some pretty crazy moments in this one. It’s one of the best pieces of the disc, despite suffering just a little from the sameness.

 
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