Review by buddyblueyes — MUSIC FOR LARGE BLADDERS.
My affinity for shredders began with the Varney cats of old, Shrapnel label artists like Marty
Friedman , Tony McAlpine , Paul Gilbert , Vinnie Moore , Joey Taffola ,
Ritchie Kotzen and Jason Becker . There was something about aggressive, face-melting
six-string shred that appealed to me and my bandmates, all still young and wet behind the ears in
our sonic education. Their music served as a catalyst for showcasing technique, skill and dexterity.
To a new generation of musicians we were inspired. It gave us common ground to critique and led to
numerous valuable discussions before sitting down to play and develop our own material. "Check it
out, here's Vai's lick from the Attitude Song." "No, wait? check this out, from For The
Love God." It harkens back to better times with less responsibilities, where entire weekends
were lost to jamming in a basement, or a barn, and drinking oversized 64 ounces of Mountain Dew from
the local mini mart. Oh yeah, this brings back fond memories!
Every generation needs people to inspire musicianship, to push boundaries and stun the world as a
result of their dedicated focus.
Alek Darson is poised to be this inspiration for the current generation. His release
Panopticon (great name for all the Tom Baker Dr. Who fans who remember the main room in the
capitol on Gallifrey) showcases a fusion of the old school regime and infuses the sound with the
current trends of Djent and Tech/Extreme drumming and syncopation. A Berklee educated guitarist,
Alek can skin a cat from 100 yards out with his shred (as we used to say). There may be numerous
comparisons to ripping off Steve Vai , especially with the use of some guitar tones and whammy
theatrics, but Darson also displays a fresh creativity, no doubt a result of ingesting and
deconstructing Guthrie Govan 's unique phrasings, which propel's his music to new heights. The
compositions are titan strong and just listening doesn't do Alek full justice. Watch his videos.
Check out his approach, the unique custom build of the guitar. Impressive is an understatement.
For fans of the above mentioned heroes of old, it is with much aplomb that Alek will inspire musical
analysis, dialogue and critique for the next generation as they make their way, in a junked up heap,
to refill the big piss of Mountain Dew for the weekend jam. Bertoni . Plini .
Brewer . Micic . These are the new Blues Saraceno s, Mark Wood s, the
Derek Sherinian s, and Randy Coven s. New shredders for the next generation. It is from
this point in our maturing lives we now clearly recognize, with lump in our throats and an
outside-looking-in smile, that we can head (somewhat reluctantly) into the sunset, knowing the
future musicianship is safe and the circle continues unabated. Each generation has it's own, tasked
with a responsibility to take up the reigns and continue on, to explore where we are not able.
Wishful concert pairing : a G3 regime change sans Vai, Satch and guest? replaced with Darson,
Plini and David Maxim Micic.