Rusty Cooley is truly something to be heard; he will tear your head off with his incredible speed and precision, and make you feel with his great touch on the guitar. He takes on a prog-metal setting with his debut album and combines that with blazing speed and out there guitar playing. On this he is accompanied by members of his band Outworld. Keyboardist Bobby Williamson certainly does his part by playing in sync with the insane technical command of Rusty’s playing.
Some may say he is all technique and no heart, but, that's just an opinion, those people probably come from a whole different style of music, so it's understandable why they can't relate. There could be some improvements on this album structure wise, but the majority of it is good and I'm sure any Prog Metal and shred fan will enjoy this. Like I said there are parts which are lacking but we all have to start somewhere.
The Review:
Under The Influence
This is very suitable intro to the album, very neo-classical and well aranged, you don't have to love shred to like this song, I've heard alot of power metal fans liking this song. Starts out with a nice riff with keys which will bring atention to any fans of power metal. I think the part which deserves the biggest mention of all is the arpeggio section, insane. If you’ve heard this song you’ll know what I’m talking about. Anyway great song and good guitar playing throughout.
The Butcher
This song wasn’t always an instrumental track; it was first an Outworld song. It was called “The Butcher” because it’s a hard song for all members. I quote Rusty, “We always said, Lets see if we can get through this one without butchering it.”
Again starts out with a groovy riff, builds up to an arpeggio part which is repeated in the song before the outro. After that it’s chaos. It has a kind of hypo rock(ish) feel to it.
Dark Matter
The highlight of the album, starts out very clean and calm, it could use a better intro in my honest opinion, it just doesn't really steal because it sounds like it's already in the middle of the song, that's what I think. It does feature some oldschool riffage, interesting phrygian dominant tones, and some catchy gallop rhythms which Rusty expands on in many ways troughout the song. It can get a bit repetitive at times but I think the playing makes up for that.
Dominion
Like “The Butcher”, there’s also an Outworld vocal version of this instrumental on the album. It has a rather good song structure to it, it’s a pure shred track yet still manages to have a chorus, and an actual solo among the amount of shredding in this song.
E.B.E
I love the rhythm tone in this song. It start's with a crushing rhythm leading to a wah-wah riff. It has a reather catchy chorus, you can't help but hum along to it. Towards the end of the song there's solo which has some piano behind it, it creates a cool vibe which fits well.
Hillbilly Militia
This song is probably the low point of the album as much as I hate to say, I just doesn't go anywhere, it's all about the playing for this song, which takes away from the actual song it's self. He does pulloff some groovy rhythms which suit the title of the song very well.
Jazz mine’s Song
This song was named after Rusty’s daughter. It reminds me of a summer’s day at the beach, again good playing but it seems to drag on for to long, without going anywhere.
War of The Angels
My personal favourite point of the album, it has everything. Opens with a low end riff, and then a melody that will stick in your heard. Bobby Williamson certainly shines through on this track; it has an amazing keyboard solo which really compliments Rusty’s parts. It cools down with a clean interlude with a nice triplet fell to it. If you're into melodic shred, there’s no doubt you would love this song.
The Duel
This song truly shows the musicianship of Rusty and Bobby. 90% of this song they play in unison, and also have an awesome “Guitar vs. Keys” solo which will send chills up your spine, definitely another favourite track of mine. It almost sound like a speedy metal/fusion song, it does'nt drag on at all, every section leads somewhere and comes together nicely.
Piece of Mind
Another strong point of the disc, Has some catchy verses and a chorus where he plays a quite long arpeggio theme before breaking into a solo. Also has a nice harmonized lead after the solo. The solo in this song is really the true moment of the song; it fits this tune really well.
I give this album a 90% rating, if you’re into great guitar playing then Rusty is the man.
