There's no doubt Joe Stump can shred. No doubt, whatsoever. How many notes hath the Berklee alumnus ripped during a single twelve bar stretch? More than you or I would care to count. The man's control over his six strings is very impressive; everything from The Manual Of Shred can be found in these fourteen instrumentals that go on for seventy bombast-laden minutes. That said, a certain sterility tends to emanate: unless you're a guitarist, yourself, and are thus interested in the mechanics of this subgenre, the magic behind the dazzling light-speed flurries and brazen sweep-picking begins to drain away — how soon depends on the individual. I've heard guitar-based instrumental albums which are much more entertaining, frankly, because they vary thematically and don't pad out the melodies with an excess of grace notes. All that said, "Eastern Beast" is still a pretty cool, '80s-flavored number (well, what on here isn't, in the context of things) that echoes some older material by Vinnie Moore and Tony MacAlpine.
A choke also goes out to Lion Music for supplying a CDR promo which has tracks (not all) that skip — at least the gist of "Cadenza Diablo" wasn't lost.
Tracklist:
1. Speed Metal Messiah
2. The Red Priest
3. Eastern Beast
4. Weapon Of Choice
5. Reflection
6. The Killer Instinct
7. Dragon's Den
8. Unleashing The Fury
9. Retroactivity
10. Psycho Shred Suite
11. Movement
12. Cadenza Diablo
13. Psycho 2nd Movement Presto
14. Chamber Maid
Total time – 69:47
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