This power trio has famous roots, and they've brought it all together masterfully. First cut
"The Sun Road"
starts off like a tune off of
David Gilmour
's first solo album and then vanishes into a driving, power-chorded surge of soulful rock. Next, "Dark Corners" is a massive rocker that pulls you under its powerful whirlpool of guitar/bass/drum frenzy.
Stevens
tortures the guitar into absolute submission without any predictable riffs.
Levin
looms everywhere, and
Bozzio
flows in a polyrhythmic jungle. Fine interactive tension and execution everywhere. This goes way beyond
King Crimson
's
Red
days.
"Duende" opens with flamenco guitar firebursts, and slowly builds into a decent Spanish-flavored piece. Not my favorite, but well done. The title cut, "Black Light Syndrome," is obviously a play on "Bozzio Levin Stevens." It is a slower-paced dirge and filled to the brim with a variety of well-executed riffs, basslines, and drum tech.
"Falling in Circles" is an early
Floyd
scape dotted with
Ronnie Montrose
leads, a ballad of driving determination and resolve. Floods of
Satriani
,
Wishbone Ash
Alvin Lee
Fripp
Buck Dharma
, and even that
Duane Allman
tone.
"Book of Hours" took me right back to
Wheels of Fire
's "Pressed Rat and Warthog," rainy-day dreamy afternoons with a fresh pot of designer coffee.
, and
play off of one another precisely as one mind.
On the last cut, "Chaos/Control," you hear that "E7 breakdown" from
Hendrix's
"Midnight" on
War Heroes
, and then a jazzy boogie in classic
Frank Marino
style is laid down.
is a guitarist with a wide range of dynamics. ~ John W. Patterson