Jeff Loomis – Requiem For The Living(2013)

Taking a break from Nevermore in 2005 has given guitar player Jeff Loomis a chance for artistic freedom, but while he can and has created instrumental works that can stand by themselves, he continuously chooses to work with vocalists. The result is, his recent releases are all about this really cool balance between his role as a shredder and as a riff-writer; and when those two are equal in strength, you get a really heavy thing going on. I’m talking of course about Jeff’s most recent EP released on April 16th, “Requiem For The Living“.

So, let’s talk about the music. The title track on this short release was actually featured on Loomis’ previous album – why? I have no idea. It’s a classic heavy metal\shred piece, but the real beatdown begins with track 2 “A Liar’s Chain“. Moving in an even more new-school direction than before, this song is such groove metal attack! you’d think Lamb of God are playing(including the snarling vocals) if it weren’t for those later melodies and solo section.

“Speak of Nothing” continues in a similar but sped-up fashion, more than bordering on melodic death metal with those aggressive drum patterns and the super-melodic chorus! It can only be described as riff-tastic hybrid, combining the straightforward attitude of a killer metal band with Jeff’s recognizable guitar tone and intelligent composing style. Oh and it’s catchy as hell..

The last track on “Requiem For The Living” seems to just go all out melodic DM, it’s brilliant. Not sure if this was intentional, maybe Jeff just wanted to write a heavy song? But the whole thing just crawls with a sick vibe reminiscent of Carcass‘ “Heartwork”, especially due to Jue Nurre’s work on vocals(and guitars). Such a splendid track, here is “Glass Roots“:

This short EP is packed with great heavy and melodic music by some super talented folks, making me wish it was a longer, full album! Jeff Loomis‘ collaborations with other musicians always deliver, and as usual I will be following up on any future releases by him. This killer EP gets a definite score of 9/10 from me! And hey, if you like what you hear, you can get it on iTunes at such a low price it’s ridiculous.

Jeff Loomis – Plains of Oblivion

Whether you listen to Nevermore or not, I bet you’ve heard the name of their former guitar legend Jeff Loomis more than once. Personally, I don’t belong to his or the band’s fan base, but I do love instrumental music when it’s done good, and for the most part, such is the case with “Plains of Oblivion“.

Without much preparation, the album dives deep into shred territory with the fast-paced opener “Mercurial“. While this and second track “The Ultimatum” are certainly of high standard, they’re actually the downside of this release, making you feel something along  “been there, heard that”. However, following them, the good part kicks into gear, unveiling a release filled with incredible variation, coupled with top notch crushing riffs.

“Escape Velocity” signals this change with its powerful main riff and melodic never-ending solos a la Paul Gilbert, but the real magic happens on “Tragedy and Harmony“. Hope you like Dream Theater, cause this this track is effectively a by numbers power prog metal song, which features excellent singer Christine Rhoades. I thought this album would have no singing, so this was a welcome surprise – definitely my favorite track on “Plains of Oblivion“.

On “Requiem For The Living” and the ballad-like “Continuum Drift”, Jeff returns to his “regular” face melting shred approach, which is my only small gripe with this effort and in general, this whole subgenre of metal. Even as an avid fan of the likes of Joe Satriani, I can safely that by itself, the style has grown tired and is in risk of becoming irrelevant.

However, the immensely experienced Jeff Loomis is clearly aware of that issue just as we are, and decided to make things more interesting than you’d expect. With the help of first-class metal artists such as a Dirk Verbeuren(Soilwork), Chris Poland(Ex-Megadeth) and Ihsahn(Emperor), he managed to craft a diverse record that is sure to please most fans of heavy metal & shred.