Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Friedman, Marty
Label: Prosthetic Records
Released: 2017
Length: 53:46
Rating: 4.5/5
It’s high time we covered the latest release from ex-Megadeth shredder Marty Friedman before 2018 rolls in. This rock-solid guitarist and tireless explorer of sonic expanses and landscapes has once again blown us away. The man is definitely a neo-classically shaped musician, and he’s largely self-taught on top of that. Most of the tracks on »Wall of Sound« are, one way or another, »hurled« into the bosom of the school primer of classical music for inspiration, yet Friedman’s highly intelligent blending of neo-classical metal with other genre ingredients still thrills. The arranging principles are firmly pushed toward classical music’s starting points, or else Friedman fuses different genre worlds with incredible finesse, along with the rhythmic keys his compositions are built on. Don’t get me wrong, »Wall Of Sound« is basically a metal album, which is exactly what you’d expect from Friedman!
Every so often one of the tracks leans toward an ultra-metalized version of a film soundtrack (Streetflight, For a Friend). These songs are dosed with a so-called ceremonial pomp, thanks above all to the generously thickened sound that Friedman’s production delivers. No wonder the man gave the new album that title. This dramatic theatricality of modern sonic principles can even be compared to the massive orchestral sound of something like Devin Townsend Project. At times the soundscape gets so dense that a composition almost tips into chaos, but Friedman, like an extraordinary tightrope walker, always catches his balance just in time and makes sure these otherwise complex compositions stay highly compact. That’s how the opener Self Pollution grabs the listener right away.
Interestingly, Something To Fight, where Friedman also brought in a guest vocalist, makes an unbelievable U-turn toward the composing principles rooted in the basics of thrash and speed metal, which calls to mind the days of Megadeth and Cacophony. That said, Something to Fight, featuring Jorgen Munkeby of Shining on vocals, is seasoned with plenty of complexity, and both Munkeby and Friedman, in the virtues and theatrics of showing off their talents, stretch themselves past every expressive limit. The two complement each other brilliantly, and since it’s the only vocal track on the album, the song is a more than welcome change of pace.
The intro of The Soldier confirms that Friedman, after all his years living in Japan, was touched by the traditional melodies of the land of the rising sun, and you can feel it in the sentiment and atmosphere, especially in the opening section. Whiteworm counts as one of the most progressive tracks on the album, with no shortage of switches between different rhythmic structures and motifs. It also stands out because Friedman stuck in elements of Latin melodies and salsa and combined them superbly with neo-classical metal. Pussy Ghost is a thrill too, with Friedman grabbing hold of black metal elements right in the intro, as the extreme tremolo picking and the wall of sound of those lines are backed by extreme blast beats.
What Marty Friedman pulls off on this album is yet another smashing of conventional musical patterns and clichés, plus a conceptual expansion that carries this artist’s expressive stamp out into the fields of undiscovered musical dimensions. It’s easy to see that Friedman is a special guitarist, a special kind of musician, and his playing is completely one of a kind. That makes his perception of music unique too, and so is his take on musical collision and musical fusion, which results in a fresh, tantalizing collection of eleven new compositions that all impress with a free-spirited »Friedman experiment«. Maybe a repetition or two is surplus to requirements, and the album occasionally goes a bit overboard with solo adventures, but on the flip side, that same album is incredibly attractive for the listener on the adventurous front, since it seeks constant contact with a high level of virtuosity and progressive complexity in instrumental music, as understood by today’s reach of guitar rock and guitar metal. It’s an album where you can feel that Friedman had a total blast making it, because it was made with passion and serious fire. In a way, he has refreshed the basic platform, or the developmental reach, of instrumental rock, which puts the guitar at the center of expression. While we’re at it, the album »Inferno« gave off that same feeling, and if more releases follow in the future, Friedman’s music will always stir things up, at least as far as he’s concerned. In its performance and compositional aesthetics, it will remain an exceptionally distinctive fixture in the everyday lives of even the most demanding music gourmets.
Marty Friedman – Whiteworm (official audio):
Line-up
Marty Friedman – guitar, all other instruments, programming
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Jinxx (Black Veil Riders) – violin on track no. 2
Jørgen Munkeby (Shining) – vocals on track no. 8
Shiv Mehra (Deafheaven) – guitar on track no. 6
Production
Marty Friedman
Track list
01. Self Pollution
02. Sorrow And Madness
03. Streetlight
04. Whiteworm
05. For A Friend
06. Pussy Ghost
07. The Blackest Rose
08. Something To Fight
09. The Soldier
10. Miracle
11. Last Lament
