DEREK SHERINIAN - review added 17th March 2009
Album Review: Molecular Heinoisty (2009)
For fans of: progressive instrumental metal... and Zakk Wylde
Derek Sherinian is a famed keyboardist who has played, not only with Dream Theater, but with Kiss, Billy Idol, and Alice Cooper. He released his first solo album, Planet X, in 1999. Molecular Heinosity is his 6th to date.
Featuring alongside Derek are contributions from Zakk Wylde, Virgil Donati, Tony Franklin, Brian Tichy, Taka Minamino and... well, to be honest, the list goes on. Derek picks the best musicians available, then tests them to the limit. Zakk Wylde isn't exactly renowned for his freeform prog playing. Here, he goes all John Petrucci on your a*ses.
The music on Molecular Heinosity is, unsurprisingly, as complex as Fermat's Last Theorem. Parts of the album tug on the lacy hemline of inaccessibility, but fortunately those moments are few and far between. Anyone with an open mind towards meticulous disjointed rhythms, whirling leads and quantum-physics-spec keyboard wanderings will have no problems here. If you like your music to sound like cavemen beating rocks with sticks, you probably won't be buying this anyway.
For an album that was birthed with the concept of showing off a keyboard player's skills, parts of this release are immensely heavy and guitar orientated. 'Wings Of Insanity' is very downtuned and drum-rhythm-rich. Zakk Wylde's trademark pinched harmonics and booming fret musings are all over the track. Also, unusually for an 'instrumental' album, Zakk lends his voice to the final song, 'So Far Gone'. His Southern tinted Ozzy-esque vocals are never going to compete with the likes of Danny Vaughn, but they fit this particular track perfectly.
'Frozen By Fire' sounds like a collision between Yngwie Malmsteen and System Of A Down. On 'The Lone Spaniard', it sounds as if Yngwie has beaten S.O.A.D. to death and thrown them in the bin so he can have the spotlight to himself.
For fans of the progressive instrumental genre, Molecular Heinosity should be deeply satisfying. It isn't the finest instrumental album ever, and better prog music does exist, but this album ties the two distinct genres together with aplomb. This isn't music that everyone will get, but chances are if you like Dream Theater, Zakk Wylde's more chaotic leanings, or intellectual instrumental albums, you'll feel pleasantly at home with this.
Check out... The singing on the final track...
Track List:
1. Antarctica
2. Ascension
3. Primal Eleven
4. Wings Of Insanity
5. Frozen By Fire
6. The Lone Spaniard
7. Molecular Intro
8. Molecular Heinosity
9. So Far Gone
Label: Inside/Out
Artist's websites: Derek Sherinian , MySpace
