Not many metal guitarists who record all-instrumental solo albums have the musical sensibility to reign themselves in. Jimmy Williams, however, certainly does. (Of course, he's also a bassist, but still … ). As if to prove that the former Steel Prophet guitarist is not just a wanker with an axe, Williams teamed up with respected engineer and producer Erik Norlander — a keyboard player! — to oversee his second album, Sonic Divergence. And what a sonic divergence. The record (unlike its predecessor, Guitar Concepts) glows with stellar production. And stylistically, Williams plays all over the place. The short ambient opener, "Astral Projector," gets listeners psyched for the assault of relentless tracks like "Broken Glass Reflection," "Tides of Time" and "Asleep." But then Williams slows the pace significantly with the acoustic and sparse "Temple of Artemis" and "Long Road Home." Everything comes together on "Critical Dimension," which shows off the majesty of Williams' guitar and how well it gels with the playing of his two bandmates, drummer Karl Rosqvist and keyboardist Rob Rampley. Sonic Divergence ends with a brief, peaceful and tropical piece called "Forever Again." At 10 tracks in 44 minutes, the album is far from self-indulgent, and Williams' flexible writing helps keep this power-trio set intriguing from beginning to end.
Track Listing:
1) Astral Projector
2) Broken Glass Reflection
3) Tides of Time
4) Asleep
5) Temple of Artemis
6) Long Road Home
7) Searching for Anything Real
8) Cosmic Fugue
9) Critical Dimension
10) Forever Again
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