TIAGO DELLA VEGA - review added 22nd January 2010
Live Album Review: Hybrid (Instrumental) (2009)
For fans of: Instrumental Electric Guitar... and super-fast bumblebees
Brazilian guitarist Tiago Della Vega is already a legend for us here at Rock Realms. A year or so back we saw him play 'Flight Of The Bumblebee' at a staggering 320bpm. Since then he's gone even faster at 370bpm. Be in no doubt, this guy is fast; probably faster than anyone else. Speed does not always mean quality though, so it's good to finally get our hands on the man's debut release, Hybrid, to see if his finger velocities translate into fine sounds.
Tiago started playing guitar at the age of 5 and has honed his craft over many years. He's already lent his speedy skills to bands like After Dark and Fermatha, even releasing an album, Advent of the Truth with the latter. He has toured the world showing off his record-breaking talents, and some of that multi-cultural style has fed back onto this release.
The chilled opening track 'Bugus' has a Moroccan feel. The guitars are there and they are quick, but they are strangely unimpressive. 'Destiny' is warmer and much more in the direction of what Tiago should be recording. 'Caprice 24' is a cover of Italian composer Niccolò Paganini's track and works well. It's not in the same league as Yngwie Malmsteen's classical stylings though. 'Lost' is considerably heavier. I like the downtuned sound and ethnic drum beats hidden in the background.
'Violet Rose' is pleasant if unexciting. It actually sounds more keyboard-biased than anything else. Same goes for 'Distant Dreams'. That crazy 'The flight Of The Bumblebee' is up next - all 46 seconds of it! The proggy, occasionally French influenced 'Acalanto' closes the album.
Hybrid is not a bad album, but it doesn't do a lot to excite. Not a lot of emotion comes across in Tiago Della Vega's playing, which is strange because most of the album isn't actually that fast. There's no doubt this guy can play, but he needs to work on getting better material and putting more of his soul into what he does.
Check out... His 370bpm version of 'TFOTB' on Japanese TV.
Track List:
01. Bugus
02. Destiny
03. Caprice 24
04. Lost
05. Violet Rose
06. Distant Dreams
07. The flight Of The Bumblebee
08. Acalanto
Label: SG Records
Artist's website(s): Tiago Della Vega , MySpace
