adg211288 The Existential Frame (2013) is the debut solo album by US musician Tony C. Tony is involved in a number of projects such as Judicator (power metal) and Sedulity (progressive thrash metal) and The Existential Frame is just one of a few releases he’s put out during 2013. Like many solo albums by guitarists The Existential Frame is an instrumental album. It has been released as a free download through Tony’s own Masters of Metal Productions label.

The style of music is best described as the genre hopping style of progressive metal. While there are some pretty clear examples of both traditional and power metal style guitar riffs Tony works his way through a number of different influences, some which are made subtle by the lack of vocals on the album. So in a roundabout way you could also say that The Existential Frame has death metal influences. Tony’s playing focuses more on riffs, melody and overall atmosphere than attempting to showcase how well he can play, which actually makes The Existential Frame seem a much more tasteful album to my ears than those that focus on excessive lead/shred playing. The album maintains a consistent level of quality but the star tracks for me would have to be Zenith and Declination.

I can’t say I’m much of a fan of fully instrumental metal music, but I’d enjoyed the work that Tony has done with bands, especially Sedulity and their debut The Valley of Dying Stars (2013) so I decided to check his solo effect out. As a matter of personal taste I can’t say I like it quite as much as his other work, but I can tell that The Existential Frame is another great album from a man who’s fast becoming one of the busiest men in metal. This is well recommended if you like instrumental metal music.

80/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/tony-c-the-existential-frame-t2958.html)