The Notes
Italian guitar virtuoso Alex Masi returns to the hard rock scene with 'Eternal Struggle'. Now not that he ever left, but he is churning out the melodic hard rock in fine fashion. There is his usual classical influences interweaved into the music, but this album is much more noted for it's raw edge. 'Eternal Struggle' is released through Lion Music.
The Tracks
The album opens with an intro and then blasts into the rocking 'Crow Haven's corner'. This track blazes and sets the pace of the album. 'All I want' comes across familiar in structure. I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking I had heard it before. Definitely not, but it has that 'Big city nights' feel in the verses. Much heavier track musically and different in nature. 'Lost in the City' has some very cool guitar tones throughout. Some acoustic and some electric. Very intense sounding. 'Wheel rolls on' is very solid. Like the vocal parts here. How about something a bit familiar?? The band covers the Foreigner classic 'Blue morning, Blue day' and do a pretty good job to boot. Maybe a bit heavier, but definitely hits the mark. 'Black flames allure' has a good feel to it. Some dark undertones make the track visual. Showcasing some burning fret work is 'Highway to nowhere'. A good deal of technical playing here. By far the lightest track on the album is 'Writing on the Wall'. An acoustic based track with some good orchestration mixed in. The closer 'Excerpts from a random horizon', is as interesting a listen as one would surmise from the title. An instrumental track that really showcases all areas and potential of the band. The track with the most excess. Masterful.
Overall
Alex Masi is plenty capable of playing in most playgrounds, but this is the one I prefer. He has once again surrounded himself with very able musicians and has put together a solid effort. The flavor of the album is very much Melodic hard rock with some cool influences of classical added in to really round the music out. Very nicely done!
The Notes
'Eternity' was actually released originally in 1988 and is the debut from Mattsson. The album has been re-recorded with Bjorn Lodin handling vocal duties. The album sounds great especially with todays technology giving it new life. Adding Lodin to the mix really gives the music added character with his unique vocal sound.
The Tracks
This re-recorded album definitely lets the listener know what Mattsson is made of. As good as the tracks are it's almost hard to believe that these songs appeared on a debut album. I didn't hear the original and have no ability to compare due to this, but am pretty impressed with the calibre of the tracks. 'Break your chains' has some great guitar work. Mattsson is disciplined in his approach and carries well here. 'Let it Rock' definitely sounds 1988 in the writing which is cool with me. 'Mujahedin Warrior' is a shredfest with some cool effects scattered throughout. If there was any doubt of Lars' abilities, this will put it to rest. The tune comes in at just over seven minutes and is instrumental. A serious talent showcase. 'Devil in your mirror' and has an intensity all it's own. Very disciplined guitar solo. 'Love is the answer' has a good amount of depth. Keyboards are used perfectly to enhance the listen on this track. Nice melody as well. The album also has some bonus tracks added to it for the re-release. The first, 'Waiting for the night' has a good groove and is smooth musically. 'Midsummer nights dream' is excellent! I really like the guitar sound and the discipline shown here. Guitar work is handled very tactfully. Almost reminds me of 'The Loner' by Gary Moore. Same basic idea. The final bonus track, 'Children of the Sun' is being released to cd for the first time. The track has a fairly straight forward sound to it. Great solo as well.
Overall
These songs have really stood the test of time. I know the recordings are new, but the songs sound as fresh today as they probably sounded in 1988. The updated sound on the album is an added bonus as the original production on early release was suppose to be a bit rough. What you get here is a great re-release of a very good album that sounds wonderful.
