IVAN MIHALJEVIC - review added 16th December 2009
Album Review: Sandcastle (2008)
For fans of: Progressive Metal... and mostly instrumental tracks
Is it an instrumental album? Is it a progressive metal release? Is it melodious hard rock? No, it's...all three and a few more besides.
Ivan Mihaljevic, which is easier to say than it is to spell, is a super-talented guitarist from Zagreb in Croatia. He's still in his early twenties but already has plenty of cool things to his name, like playing alongside Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), The Cult, Scorpions, and the one and only Les Paul.
Alongside his work in the Croatian rock band Hard Time, Ivan found time to put together this collection of solo works. Not only does the man shred on the guitar, he also plays keyboards, percussion, and even sings...and he hasn't got a bad voice. Joining him on Sandcastle is Majkl Jagunic on bass, and Craig Devine on drums. John Denner, Igor Tatarevic and Taher Sanuri also add a few noises here and there.
The sound is mostly impressive., if perhaps a little pompous and self-indulgent in places. So numerous are the styles and genres the album covers however, any brief moments of pomposity are soon replaced by something much more down to earth. A good half of the album is purely instrumental whilst the rest features normal vocalized tracks. There are exceptions. 'Hi-tech Orient' is some sort of crazed techno track with Ivan's guitar layered over the top. It's nice to see the man experimenting, although it makes me want to throw my shoe into the speaker. 'Spring' is his take on Vivaldi's classical piece. It's not bad, and doesn't use the neo-classical stylngs Yngwie Malmsteen would employ. However, there are some very annoying baby noises in the track that need removing. Why are they there? No idea!
Overall this is a perfectly reasonable release. It's not exceptional, but that's not to say there's anything lacking with Ivan. I just don't feel the material necessarily shows him off as well as it could have. He's apparently in the middle of recording a new album so we can wait with bated breath and, er, see what that sounds like.
Check out... Those irritating baby noises. Grrr...
Track List:
01. Sandcastle
02. Cascading Mirrors
03. Distant World
04. Bulldozer
05. Questions in My Mind (Part I)
06. Hi-tech Orient
07. Questions in My Mind (Part II)
08. Spring
09. Empathy
10. Macedonian War Song
11. Friend
12. Shimmering Karma
13. The Road to Nowhere
14. Raindrops
Artist's website(s): Ivan Mihaljevic , MySpace
