Derek Sherinian has a reputation a lot of people can only dream of. The American has played with acts such as Kiss, Billy Idol and Alice Cooper and was a member of elite prog metal stars Dream Theater. Along with Planet X, he has released albums under his own name at a frequent interval; 'Molecular Heinosity' is his sixth. Using his fame he invited some illustrious guests, among them Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), Virgil Donati (Steve Vai, Steve Walsh), Brian Tichy (Pride and Glory, Ozzy Osbourne, Foreigner, Billy Idol) and Tony Franklin (Blue Murder, Jimmy Page).

Rusty Cooley, Brett Garsed and Taka Minamino are on the guest list. With these musicians it is impossible that things can go wrong. The first three songs are a 16-minute trilogy written by Virgil Donati. This epic piece is in Planet X style; a very progressive song. In general the songs on this album are less jazzy and more metallic sounding than his previous releases. Derek is not a person that puts his keyboards first, he is humble for the group.

A lot of songs have quite some tempo, of course you hear some Dream Theater influences and the guitar solo's are first class. "Frozen by Fire" is a heavy track with keyboard and guitar leads fighting and battling all over the place. After that the serene track "The Lone Spaniard", a guitar solo with piano underneath gives you time to breathe. A guitar solo launches you into another heavy track; "Molecular Heinosity"; a song carried by a heavy groovy riff and strange drumpatterns.

All songs are instrumental tracks, with the exception of "So Far Gone" which has vocals by Zakk Wylde! In my opinion Derek might choose to do this more often in the future. Zakk's voice sounds like a mix between a lower singing James Rivera and Ozzy. Starting slow and heavy the song has a faster part in the middle. It's an epic track with some Sabbath influences and does sometimes remind me of Gary Moore's "Led Clones" sung by Ozzy Osbourne.

Compliments to Derek and the whole pack for this good effort!