Sometimes, when we are dealing with guitar heroes in metal, we must be cautious. Some are doing fine works, while some are doing the worst things we could hear. But the great Achilles' Heel of these works is their instrumental orientation. Many fans of music cannot swallow their albums. But there are fewer that still prefer to crate and play music for every music fan. Showing that the end of Communist, dictatorial state in Russia was a very good thing, we can hear the first SAKHAROV's album, the excellent "Under My April Moon".

This is the first work from Igor Sakharov, a Russian guitarist and composer, and his musical style is near a mixture of melodic power metal with original heavy metal. But the refinement, the elegance, the weight, the technique, all are in their due places, and to him, the best is the music itself. He doesn't need to show a great technique on six strings, for his composition is something astonishing, both in riffs as in the solos. And he gathered a team of very good guest musicians, as the vocalists Martin Steno (vocals, from IRON FIRE and FORCE OF EVIL), Erik "Ez" Blomkvist (from MOLTEN TRAIL), David Henriksson (from DEEP SEA and HEEL), and Gustav Blide (from SEVEN THORNS), and Pasha Kovalyov on bass guitar and Andrey Ischenko on the drums. And all of this team gathered here made an excellent work. Of course the guitars appear a lot on the entire album, but they aren't the main focus.

The sound quality is clear and heavy, so you'll understand the band's work with no trouble at all. But there's a heavy weight present as well.

This album is a masterpiece, so "Big Daddy" here wouldn't say anything more, but songs as "I Spit Bullets Out" (fast and furious, with a beautiful melodic approach), the beautiful and introspective "Cold Winds Take Me Home" (an elegant ballad, with very good clean guitars), the hooking "Under my April Moon", the accessible "Playing with Fire", and the fast and melodic "Into the Night" could be named as the best ones. But as I said above: it's a masterpiece, so you can hear and choose your favorite ones by yourselves, dear nieces and nephews.

I personally hope that it's the first album from a very long, solid, and stable musical career for Igor and his guests.