HeWho: Steffen Schackinger Where: Denmark What: shredder meets the blues with an underlying classical feel. When: year of origin 2008 Sounds Like: Steve Vai meets Pat Metheny Danish guitarist Steffen Schackinger’s debut recording ElectriGuitartistry was close to a decade ago thus to consider Schackinger a new artist would be misleading. However considering the limited press to date to assess him a plausible Undiscovered Artist would be more in line. But judging by the music on his unconventional follow up Fire Dance may change all that. Why unconventional? Well Schackinger is not an all out shredder, riffer or twiddler but more so a very intelligent guitarist that is simply very hard to categorize. This is both his strength and weakness. His strength being that Fire Dance is not your typical instrumental guitar album as Steffen adds violin and cello to his barrage of instrumentation bringing in some classical flavors on four of the ten tracks. He even closes out the album with a vocal track. The weakness of the album is its eccentric musical wanderings that may test the patience of those looking for instant gratification. Probably the most distinctive track would be the title track which includes several time changes and is progressive in nature. The rhythm section of drummer Lars Daugaard and bass player Henrik Bjorn are in complete sync with Schackinger’s impressive playing. Equally outstanding musicianship can be found on the slow builder “The Ladder of Transmigration” or for that matter the playful “A & V”. In our world of instant gratification the complexity of Fire Dance may result in many musical pleasure seekers skimming through this album and passing up on a very compelling guitarist. Hang around and let Fire Dance sink in and gratify your ears. Your patience will be fully rewarded. http://steffenschackinger.com
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
New Artists coming at you all the time.
|