Maxxess - Authenticity
Mr. Maxxess has returned with his third ever solo outing, 'Authenticity'. Hot on the heels of my rave review of his previous CD, 'The Sequel', has Max been resting on his laurels? Can l shout praises of innovation, a new direction, music without comparison!!!! ..............err………. no. Fortunately l can tell you that he has opted to stick with the tried and tested methods brought to bare so effectively on 2003's, 'The Sequel' and tweaked them ever so slightly with his own brand of 'flying synths' and 'pressureful guitar', (as he refers to them). So what's Max spent the last year working on then? Let's find out.
Opening up in anthemic rock mode,( and sounding very much like the music of John Wetton from the off) 'Elements' gives us a taste of what is to come. The main thrust of the piece is a mid-tempo guitar workout with a bluesy twist. There's more than a modest hint of Whitesnake guitar trickery buried in there from when they played at their slickest and best in the eighties,( maybe these are the elements to which the title refers??). A gentle crossfade takes us into 'Crypto', the theme remaining subdued as tempered chord changes push the track forward, contrasting nicely with the brash openness of the first piece. Synths underpinning events adding muscle rather than tone to the epic sounding arrangement.
The title track is upon us - is this where the true nature of the album will reveal itself? Things get underway in a typically modernesque Paul Haslinger fashion with a drum loop and fat synth bass prior to the guitar soundwall kicking in. The lead solo has me thinking l'm now definitely listening to Steve Vai, but it's the intermittent electro-acoustic breaks and sequencing that lift the track into another realm completely!
With its step sequenced intro and pace propelling 'Red Earth' into the limelight we're now rockin', ( in a very Geoff Downes/Asia kind of way). No surprises to be found here with a tight verse, chorus arrangement. I didn't really want to mention TD here, but by the time we reach the middle eight there's a rather strong suggestion that l may well be listening to 'Tournado' with the sequencers and guitar going flat out. The track closes with some mad frequency crunching going on in synth land as the patterns skew off into the distance.
Effects and another simple sequence start proceedings with 'Spyrit' as a mournful guitar refrain paints us another sonic picture. The drum programming again sounding very 'alive' as was the case on 'The Sequel'.
'De-layed' is a more sombre affair; it's strong off key rhythm seeing us well into this slow burner. The guitar voicing sounding more akin to one of Viv Campbell's more extreme moments. The piece gradually climbs to a restrained solo providing something decidedly different on this an album of predominantly guitar chops.
'Trance-lation' brings events to a close in a lighter more airy rock/pop mode. To avoid things getting a little too sugary sweet the rhythm is cranked up at just the right moment and once more it's air guitar time!! I get the feeling that the track is labouring slightly, but a great false ending brings it all back together as Max goes fret crazy in the closing minute of the reprise.
So there you have it, to my ears 'Authenticity' proving itself to be a more than worthy successor to 'The Sequel'. Max Schiefele has produced another rockin' good album that certainly exploits his flare for arrangement and dynamics to the full. There's nothing too demanding or challenging for the listener here and would say that this album is probably the most accessible of his work to date providing an excellent starting point into the music of Maxxess. Once again l must stress that the heavy guitar content may not be to everyone's taste, but for those that prefer more upbeat/ vibrant albums you won't go far wrong here. Just one question now remains……… How on earth is Max gonna' top this one? Over to you Max……… (B22)
copas from http://www.synthmusicdirect.com/authent.cfm
Tracklist:
01. Elements 07:46
02. Crypto 06:07
03. Authenticity 08:23
04. Red Earth 07:09
05. Spyrit 07:25
06. De-Layed 07:02
07. Trance-Lation 11:59
TKP
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