This guy is a pretty amazing guitarist. He shreds, but yet manages to be melodic at the same time. That’s a skill a lot of guitarists just don’t seem to possess. The music here is mostly fusion, but it wanders into other territory here and there. Plus, even within that fusion heading, it covers a lot of musical ground.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012 Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Tres Hombres
There’s some serious fusion and funk built into this killer tune. It’s energetic and melodic and features some guitar soloing that manages to maintain a sense of spirit and soul while still shredding.
Country Maniac
We get less jazz and more shred on this one, but it’s still a melodic rather than crunchy tune. It’s a real killer song.
Sky Express
Randén slows it down for a mellower number that’s quite balladic in nature. It’s another great piece of music.
Floating Around
More melodic guitar based jamming makes up this tune. It’s a mid-tempo one that works quite well.
Eclipse
This time Randén turns things decidedly fusion-like with another killer piece of music.
E.R.T
Randén comes close to pure shred here with this crunchy number. Still, this is more rock than it is metal and it’s a great tune.
.Cheese & Miller
Funk is the order of business on this jazzy number. It’s a real killer and the bass work is exceptional. The horns are a nice touch, too.
Naga Jolika
Here is a mellower tune that’s also more fusion oriented. It’s got some great guitar soloing and is another strong piece. It’s certainly not as jazz-like as the previous number was.
Funk It!
This is an interesting title for this tune. I mean, it’s funky, but not as funky as “Cheese & Miller.” It’s not far removed in terms of musical style, though. It’s another cool fusion piece.
Wind Trees
The set is closed with a pretty and jazz oriented number that’s slow and tasty. Personally, I generally think more energetic music serves better to close a CD, but in this case, it works. It’s quite an extensive and involved tune that really covers a lot of ground.