I followed with much interest the career of Marcus Jidell (once JEKYLL & HYDE or ROYAL HUNT’s lead guitar player), since his days with the ex-TALISMAN guys Pontus Norgren (HAMMERFALL / ex-THE POODLES) and Jakob Samuel (now successful with THE POODLES and also ex-JEKYLL & HYDE) in their short lived project, under Tolkien’s influences called THE RING and their only album ”Tales from Midgard” (2004), now that he found a great and stable spot, at the right of Tom Englund in the latest, fresh line-up incarnation of EVERGREY, it was time for him to reveal his inner six strings soul, and in the same time to fulfill the fantasy and the dream of each and every guitar player: a solo album.
This instrumental project was lasting and growing for a longtime, eight years in the making, with Marcus that was handling all the technical studio trickery manipulations and a big part of the instrumentation, and of course numerous external contributions with a hell of a guest list. What we have here is not only a hyper technical neo-classical shredding piece but more an atmospheric kind of disc with some strong colorful piece of music in the vein of a Motion picture’s soundtrack.
Ok, I have to admit that the first cut “Artica” reveal a density in the playing that put the disk in the scale of high difficulty level with, a still preserved strong songwriting focus within the fast running arpeggios licks and the martial rhythmic pattern: vertiginous. “Huldra (Ruler of the Forest)” holds a great Hendrixian feel with some reminiscences from Blackmore / Uli Jon Roth and of course Yngwie. “Tesla World System” with as special guest the ROYAL HUNT’s mastermind and keyboards Maestro: Andre Andersen, is a very interesting number, and it reminds me a lot the virtuosic works of the JOHANSSON BROS (ex-RISING FORCE) in their 90s albums with legendary Shawn Lane (R.I.P.) or with their collaboration with mythic pioneer Allan Holdsworth, mainly because of the mix of Fusion and Metal… Simply Amazing.
“Rei Zan” or “Space Dog” are following more or less the great Swedish legacy with some flavors ranging from Benny Jansson to John Norum, from Jonas Hansson to Malmsteen with a solid Metallic backing tempo with violoning and sweeping technics pushed highly up front. “El-Amarna (Ruins of Akhetaton)” is one of the best tracks, it avoids nicely the cheap oriental melody trap and provides again a real innovative & intense arrangement around the guitar and the cello, it’s also quite challenging in the execution and shows a tasteful Stratocaster tone and once again a stellar playing displayed greatly.
The cello is played by Marcus Jidell, by his Father Rolf, but I assume that most of the acrobatic works was recorded by the famous Svante Henrysson (ex-GLORY / ex-RISING FORCE / ex-KEE MARCELLO) and it’s one of the most uplifting element in the whole record, the alchemy between the distorted guitar and the classical four strings cello is outstanding. The closing track as the title suggest, is a relaxed song with an almost Jeff Beck’s like Fat sounds, a good way to finish this short but ambitious album, warmly recommended for the guitar lovers.
Ps: Once again, I have to deal with the harassing ‘file only disease’, the bloody ‘digital only‘ syndrome is plaguing here… Please Mr. Lasse Mattsso
01. Arctica
02. Huldra (Ruler of the Forest).
03. Tesla World System.
04. Rei Zan.
05. El-Amarna (Ruins of Akhetaton).
06. Space Dog.
07. Wedding Song
Marcus Jidell (Evergrey, ex-Royal Hunt, Jupiter Society) – guitars
Hannes Van Dahl (Evergrey) – drums
Andreas Johansson (Cult Of Luna) – drums
Johan Niemann (Evergrey, Mind’s Eye, Therion) – bass
Andre Andersen (Royal Hunt) – keyboards
Rickard Nilsson – keyboards
Svante Henrysson (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) – cello
Jennie-Ann Smith (Avatarium) – backing vocals
Rolf Jiddel – cello
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