I was handed this CD a while back by a fellow kvlt person, who said, "Some Vinnie Moore type goodness happening there." Well, that's just about one of the fastest ways to get a guitar nerd to check out an album. The fastest way would probably be "I'm not giving your whammy bar back until you've heard this one out."

Listening to the album makes two things very clear. First, Layton has damn good chops and comes up with some pretty good tunes all over the album, using doubling and harmonies frequently. Second, he's let down by his backing. Obviously when you've just started working your way up the fret chain of aspiring guitar heroes, it's tough getting it all together perfectly. 

The drumming is adequate, but it follows the rhythm pattern too closely and that doesn't help the playing pop out. The rhythm playing itself is nothing that special, unfortunately - normally, that might slide in a guitar album, but this year has seen so many top-shelf releases in the genre (here, here and here for examples) that it's inevitable that you're going to suffer by comparison. And since Layton clearly has the stuff to play in the big league, it's only fair that he's compared to the best.

That being said, there's a fair bit of variety on display as he tries a few different things for most songs. Two of them, Fire and Deceiver have guest vocal performances and they punctuate an otherwise instrumental affair. Truth be told, though I'm not usually a fan of hired gun vocals, these actually make sense since they let the album flow a little better. And he seems to be at his best when the backing doesn't demand too much of him and he belts it out freestyle - that's when his feel and chops are really showcased. Daybreak, B & Me and Tears of Gesthemane are great classy pieces and the Vinnie Moore parallels are quite justified once you hear them. The main riff of Alive Again actually brings to mind the heavy chunk of Meltdown.

Layton needs to fix a few things to duke it out with the baddest axeslingers around - he needs to get a little more punch into his playing and his sound, try experimenting with some more layering and better mixing, and most importantly, get a seriously dynamic rhythm section to groove over. If that happens, I'd be very interested in hearing how it sounds, because I suspect it's the kind of stuff that'd be made of win.

 

 

Label: (self-released)

 

Year of release: 2008