Jeff Loomis - Plains of Oblivion

As a fan of Jeff Loomis, both his solo stuff and his work in Nevermore and Sanctuary I jumped at the chance to review this album, and by god I was not disappointed with his latest output. This is his first release post the Nevermore split, although hearing his work as a session musician on 7 Horns 7 eyes, I had an inkling of what to expect.
Opening up with two guest spots to make any guitar player’s wet dream look mild, a duo with first Marty Friedman and then followed by Tony MacAlpine, these are two tracks which are an exodus in guitar mastery.
Normally guitar albums are generally quite boring after a while, and I did have a fear that this would happen with this album as well, but Jeff had the great idea to follow in Yngwie’s footsteps and put vocals over some of the songs which was an absolutely masterstroke of genius. 2 of the tracks feature Christina Rhoades on vocals and her voice gives the album more dimensions. The other vocalist on one of the tracks is Ishahn who provides some of his trademark black metal growls over Surrender.
Jeff also teams up with former partner in crime of Nevermore fame Atilla Voros for a track which has an extreme Nevermore feel to it. The one guest which I haven’t mentioned yet is Chris Poland, who appears on the track Continuum drift which provides a rather refreshing take on the shred-tastic feeling of the other tracks.
Overall this is an amazing album which I can’t fault, each track is extremely diverse and it will please guitar enthusiasts and general music lovers both. (10/10)

James Merret





1 comment:

  1. Didn't anyone tell Jeff Loomis that you can play in modalities besides Phrygian Dominant? He's been doing the same shit forever. So beat. He needs to take some psychedelics and evolve his sound already.

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