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Alex Ehrsam - P.U.L.S.E.

Published December 15 2010


*
=Staff's pick

Proximity Triggered
Hollow Input*
Short Notice
Round Trip
Lush
Time Sensitive*
Heat Signature
Smooth Operator
Side Step
Morning Cigarette


Genre Instr. Heavy Guitar Fusion
Alex Ehrsam
Vocals
Tracks 10
Thomas Gutehrlé
Guitar
Runningtime 43 Min.
-
Guitar
Label Shredguy Records
Anh-Quàn Lê
Bass
Release 04 December 2010
Olivier Wilhelm
Drums
Country France
-
Keyboard
Producer Alex Ehrsam    
Similar artists Ohm, Chris Poland

Alex is a fairly new shredder on the instrumental guitar scene. He released his debut Djaz_dtox in 2008 and I can definitely hear "P.U.L.S.E" is a step in the right direction. He has fortunately enough left behind the horrible programmed drums of the debut, plus I feel he has focused his playing quite a bit. Alex produces jazz-infused instrumental rock with a touch of Chris Poland and his Ohm project at times. Where the debut was all shred and very little solo structure, he has now focused his playing quite a bit with a much better song structure.

Instead of just shredding all over it the songs now have a nice melodic structure for the most part. Just check out the nice melodic soloing in "Hollow Input", which really proves he's slowed down and smelled the roses. Good job! This time Alex has also drafter live drummer Olivier Wilhelm, which is a really good call. The songs also have a better groove to them, such as "Short Notice". Even though this is a guitar-focused album, Alex does leave some space for bass player Anh-Quán Lê to show his skills, where "Time Sensitive" is a prime example.

The production is okay, even though it is a bit uneven, with the drums needing a bit more oomph and the guitar is at times a bit too loud in the mix, plus a little bit more delay wouldn't hurt. Room for improvement, but still not bad. To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of improv-oriented fusion, but Alex does a really good job and he's a great guitarist, no doubt!

Performance
Originality
Production
Vocals
Songwriting

8

7

6

-

7

 
Summary



7 chalices of 10 - Stark


Related links:

www.alexehrsam.fr
www.myspace.com/alexehrsamguitarist