Yngwie Malmsteen - Perpetual Flame |
Published January 18 2009
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Death Dealer |
| Genre | Guitar Shredding |
Tim "Ripper" Owens
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 12 |
Yngwie Malmsteen
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 69 Min. |
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Guitar
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| Label | Rising Force Records |
Yngwie Malmsteen
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Bass
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| Release | 14 October 2008 |
Patrik Johansson
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Drums
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| Country | Sweden/USA |
Derek Sherinian
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Keyboard
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| Similar artists | --- | ||
Finally Yngwie has started getting his producer/sound engineer qualities under control. He's by no means any Max Norman or Rick Rubin, but "Perpetual Flame" sounds way better than the horrendous wardrobe mix of "War To End All Wars" and also a bit better than the last effort "Unleash The Fury". This can be seen as a good starting point.
New guy in the line-up is singer Tim "Ripper" Owens. Interestingly enough Yngwie has transformed from a Rob Halford-clone to sounding like a mix of Ronnie James Dio and Michael Vescera with a hint of Graham Bonnet. Thus Ripper has become a true Yngwie singer. A musical chameleon without any originality one my think, but his voice fits the package. Yngwie is on the other hand more original in his style and sound, even if a zillion shredder kids have tried copying his licks, and some quite well. Yngwie does not want to change or update his concept, which of course is his call. If you're a fan of his and you accept this, you have a candy bag of twelve newly made sweets to suck on. Neo-classical metal with the guitar in centre, yes this is still the case.
Yngwie's ode to his red Ferrari, entitled "Red Devil" (I'm glad his guitar playing is better than his lyrical side), is a prime example that he can still write some mean guitar riffs. This is definitely one of my favourites on the album, even though I would have preferred he kept the blues vibe in the solo, too without letting the technique take the upper hand. In "Caprici Di Diablo" he does what he can to outplay all his earlier sweepings. He IS a master, but in this particular song, particularly in the "verse" part it feels like he's biting off a bit more than he can chew as he can't even keep up with himself and it sounds a bit sloppy.
This also goes for the intro of the "Death Dealer"
mid-solo. On the other hand he really picks up in the great instrumental
track "Lament" where he proves he's a master at combining
technique and feel. In the bluesy "Magic City" he also takes
over the mike and does it really well, too. This, in combination with
his guitar playing, proves he's a force still to be reckoned. The intro
solo with its bleeding tones is proof enough.
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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Summary
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6 chalices of 10 - Stark |
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