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Journey Into The Fourth Dimension: Journey Into The Fourth Dimension
 This neoclassical shred project is a largely instrumental exercise flaunting the talents of Chilean axemeister Jose L. del Rio, keyboard wizard Vitalij Kuprij and metronome drummer Marco Cerda. There are some chorale operatic vocal intros on a few songs and the award winning (in Chile I presume?) soprano voice of Pilar Aguilera on "Nel Mezzo Del Cammir", a tune based on Dante's Inferno.
Remember the stellar Motorhead live exercise in excess Everything Louder Than Everything Else? This project should be called "Everything Faster Than Everything Else". Aside from a few nice interludes of very competent classical guitaring and a few forays into the Malmsteenesque area of "spleen busting" overwrought emotion (albeit without YJM's trademark tone and vibrato), this is strictly an athletic race to see who can finish the song fastest. To be sure, technique abounds, but it is flash without substance and it is very very cold. Devoid of any warmth or character, saving the few moments mentioned above, and exacerbated by many instances of a very synthetic bass sound, this flat, cluttered disk without any real dynamic impact points, quickly loses any real appeal. Who really needs a 300 beat per minute version of "Flight of the Bumblebee" anyway, the 240BPM version is fast enough to defy human comprehension. If you could speed your favorite neoclassical shred album up from 33-1/3 to 45 RPM you would approach what this album sounds like. If you like that idea go for it! Otherwise it is a waste of Mr. Kuprij's wondrous talent and some potentially good ideas. Slow down boys and emote.
Track Listing
01. Introduction
02.Phantom Shadows
03. Battlefields Of Glory
04. Oriental Fantasy
05. Through The Darkness
06. Dreams of Wisdom & Prophecy
07. Epic Dramatic
08. Psychophony
09. Journey Into The Fourth Dimension
10. Nel Mezzo Del Cammir
11. Beyond The Pillars Of Hercules
12. Flight Of The Bumblebee (bonus trk))
Added: January 9th 2007
Reviewer: Mike Blackburn
Score:  
Related Link: Lion Music
Hits: 2720
Language: english
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Journey Into The Fourth Dimension: Journey Into The Fourth Dimension
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-01-09 14:01:31
My Score:
Yes, Jose L. del Rio can certainly shred on the guitar, and of course we all know the talents of keyboard wizard Vitalij Kuprij (Artension, Ring of Fire), but Journey Into the Fourth Dimension is basically pointless wankery that never ends. Where's the songs guys, where's the melodies? Don't get me wrong, I like virtuoso technique just as much as the next guy, and del Rio can burn with the best of them, but overall this album is basically a mess of notes and noise. The "million miles a minute" drum work of Marco Cerda and the occasional operatic vocals of Pilar Aguilera don't help matters either. Out of all this cacophany, I found the acoustic/classical pieces "Oriental Fantasy", "Psychophony", and "Dremas of Wizdom and Prophecy" the most appealing as they are examples of the few times where this group of shredders chose to show even the slightest bit of restraint. Which is definitely what this album needed more of to be honest. And don't even get me started on the speed of light remake of "Flight of the Bumblebee"...yeah, the technical proficiency is there, but who cares.
Lion Music has released a lot of stellar albums over the last year or two, but sadly this isn't one of them.
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