Guitar Force
Viktor Smolski
•
March 14, 2023
The first Track Guitar Force was surprisingly good, I really wasn't sure what to make of this album when seeing the album cover. I kind of think they need a better aesthetic, no offense to the artist. This guitarwork is absolutely masterful. The lack of lyrics needs to be addressed, but still the guitar work on this track is SOLID! The next track Bought and Sold says it's an instrumental version but where is the non instrumental version? I know not all music needs lyrics but I'm not really sure what to make out of this album which has no lyrics so far. It sounds alot like Eddie Van Halen but it has a darker metal side which is very melodic and beautiful. I just feel there is a story here that deserves to be told. If not through lyrics through better art. This musicianship is definitely 10/10 for me.
I listened to track three World of Inspiration which I liked a lot cause it reminded me of Castlevania which is one of my favorite series. I would like to see this being used for something like that. I can definitely see the symphonic musical influence here and I like it a lot. The small bit of vocal sampling at 5:30 really does seem to help tell a story, so that was also a nice touch. It's a 14 minute long song but that didn't really bother me. Song length shouldn't really matter at all, what's important is quality rather than quantity and in this I found QUALITY sounds and melodies in abundance.
Track number four Darkness was more an interlude, but it did really seem to blend the previous track good with song five Self-Blinded Eyes which had a nice triumphant sound at the beginning till the heavy drums come pounding in and it gets a little thrashier. Still solid guitar and the drums are very good on this track. Unfortunately it's nothing new to me, I eat bowls of tasty licks for breakfast...without any milk! I would definitely encourage this person to throw in more vocal sampling. It's very do-able without the music becoming "sample-heavy". I'm feeling this whole album is just instrumental... I guess with a name like guitar force I should have known.
The next track "Satisfied" definitely "satisfied" my need for dark and scary guitar vibes that would work well for lots of different music in my opinion. I wonder if this artist has ever thought of using this for a techno remix? I just like using stuff like this when I do remixes for hardcore tracks. The next song Chapter 3 had a great sound, I've never really heard alot of stuff like this before. It reminds me alot of the trans-siberian orchestra and X-mas. I think what stood out most to me on this was the Bass riffs. Clearly this musician is very talented on bass guitar as well. The next song Bourree(Suite 2) was the same way, but the bass didn't move as fast, and I liked the violin parts alot in it they really give it a nice classical aesthetic which I really think the album art doesn't portray well.
I like how it has a nice reggae beat around 1:32, this song was very interesting and I definitely recommend it to all fans of heavy metal! The next track Menuet(Suit 2) sounded good, let's just say it has potential. I think it would sound really good if they got more musicians involved, notable guitarist BucketHead is just one that comes to mind. The final track Unity was really good, the part at 4:35 was interesting as well as the "fake" ending at 6:03.I don't know if the songs really need to be quite so long but they're not that long. Viktor Smolski is still better than a lot of Heavy Metal bands out there. I feel like they really put a lot into writing these too so there is definitely something to be said for that as well.
9 / 10
Almost Perfect
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Guitar Force" Track-listing:
1. Guitar Force
2. Bought And Sold (Instrumental Version)
3. World Of Inspiration
4. Darkness
5. Self-Blinded Eyes (Instrumental Version)
6. Satisfied (Instrumental Version)
7. Chapter 3 (Concert For Violin & Oboe With Orchestra)
8. Bourree (Suite 2)
9. Menuet (Suite 2)
10. Unity
Viktor Smolski Lineup:
Victor Smolski
More results...