“Stardust
Requiem” is one of the most captivating guitar albums I’ve heard in a long time.
It’s a perfect example of how sometimes music can speak more than words.
Stylistically
the music is Neo-Classical shred with a subtle inclination towards Jazz. In
practice however the music in richer than the aforementioned epithet might
infer. For a start the album is heavily reliant on atmosphere even though it
gives technique ample space to flourish.
Hans van Even possesses a remarkable finesse, even when
playing the album’s most complex pieces. His compositional talents are similarly
impressive, a result of which the music
feels so vibrant and full of life. And the devil is in the detail. For
example the drums in ‘The Fifth Gate’ sound synthetic but they’re creating a
specific sound and not replacing the acoustic sounds of human drumming. Even
‘Angeli Ex Galaxia’ - the album opener - is effective in building momentum,
while having film-like qualities, and then exploding into the show-stopper that
is the title-track.
Guitarists
Tony MacAlpine and Brett Garsed guest in a couple of tracks in “Stardust
Requiem”. Incidentally I do suspect that Macalpine’s music has also been of
significant inspiration for Hans van Even.
As far as
guitar albums go, this is a stunning revelation.
Listen to
‘Flight of the Belgian Bumble-Bee’ from “Stardust Requiem”.
