Now it's not uncommon for rock and metal stars to embark on solo projects and work on something different be it as a new career of their own or something different while they work with another band. Some choose to work with other musicians in their solo project and others choose to do all the work themselves and be responsible for writing all the music, playing all the music and producing the music. Needless to say it's a risky challenge but some succeed and some fail. The question is though, has JOHN GALLOW succeeded as a solo artist or has he failed? Let us find out in this review.

Hailing from Rochester, New York in the USA, JOHN GALLOW is a Doom Metal and Heavy Rock guitarist who has worked with a number of bands including BLIZARO and ORODRUIN to name a few. Now, he has decided to branch out on his own and record his own music that branches into subjects like the spiritual aspects of death and the mysteries of the afterlife which is an interesting set of topics to choose for your first venture as a solo artist.

"Violet Dreams" is JOHN GALLOW's first venture as a solo artist and the 60+ minute CD features a blend of Doom Metal and Heavy Rock where everything is written, composed, performed and produced by JOHN GALLOW himself. One thing I will give him points for is his skills as a guitar player and a producer as the music can be heard without sounding too lost in the mix which is a common trap that other Doom Metal bands and artists seem to fall into.

Usually Doom Metal puts me off but the fact that this one has a few elements of Heavy Rock in it as well makes it unique as well as sounding dark and mysterious. However, that's where the praise ends. There are some things about this album which do put me off and I'll start with JOHN GALLOW's singing as it's not very good. He does not growl like other Doom Metal singers so you can hear the words more of the time but the vocal delivery is a bit poor.

I know I said that you can make out the music unlike other Doom Metal bands who focus too much on seeing how dark, heavy and brutal they can sound while playing as fast they possibly can but there are a few spots here and there where the production is very second rate. That's not to say it's one hundred percent awful though but it could have been mixed and produced a bit better.

"Violet Dreams" is not bad for JOHN GALLOW's first venture as a solo artist as in my own opinion, it's better than what YNGWIE J. MALMSTEEN could ever do as lately his new material is extremely weak but thankfully JOHN GALLOW has not fallen into the same trap that YNGWIE has fallen into these days but it is early days so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens with any future material from JOHN GALLOW. That said however, if this album was tweaked, produced and mixed a bit better in places, it would have got a bit of a higher score but it's not bad for a first outing for a new solo artist so I can't really give criticism for that so I'll end my review on that note.