Time Signature Move that groove...

Genre: instrumental progressive metal

Originally released in 1999, "Guitar Talk" will be rereleased tomorrow on Lion Music. Marcel Coenen is the guitar wizard who casts his spells of fretboard magic upon the music of Sun Caged, but he also releases guitar-centric instrumental music every now and then under his own name.

Ever the guitar virtuoso, Coenen's main focus on this release is on the guitar leads, as he impresses with technically advanced solo playing, showcasing his phenomenal skills as a guitar player. And, I am impressed - very impressed - and I enjoy listening to hisb guitar acrobatics from beginning to end.

Unfortunately, I think this release suffers from the same problems as many other releases by guitar heroes: while the lead guitar is in focus, everything else is basically just there to be there. And the same problem applies here. The drums sound mechanical (they are probably programmed to some extent) and the bass, while at least audible, only contributes minimally (the bonus track 'Six String Shuffle' is the exception here as the rest of the instrumentation is allowed to shine as well). There are places, where the rhythm guitar is allowed to engage in some cool grooves (such as in 'Independence Day' and 'Shoreline'), which i appreciate.

So, my beef with this release is no different from my beef with the typical guitar hero release. The whole point of such releases, however, is of course, the showcasing of the guitarist's skills as a lead guitar player, and Marcel Coenen definitely succeeds here. Personally, I enjoy this album, like I mentioned, but I would probably prefer listening to Sun Caged.

But, if you are into guitar virtuoso-style instrumental metal, then prepare to be impressed by the fire that springs from Marcel Coenen's fingers.