Power of Metal.dk Review

 
S.O.T.O.
Inside the Vertigo
Rating
 
Style: Hard Rock/metal
Release date: 30 January, 2015
Playing time: 55:00
 


In general I find the music of Jeff Scott Soto not heavy enough, but what he serves on this album together with Jorge Salán (guitar), BJ (keyboards, guitar), David Z (bass) and Edu Cominato (drums) is his heaviest stuff to date. Besides these musicians there are a lot of guest players and guest songwriters, like Gus G., Jason Bieler, Mike Orlando, Joel Hoekstra, Casey Grillo, Connor Engstrom, Tony Dickinson, Léo Mancini, Hugo Mariutti and Gary Schutt.

Fans of Jeff know that his soulfull singing is excellent and he rules from start to finish. The first track "Final Say" is immediately one of the heaviest tracks on the album, so if you don't think that song is too heavy, you will have no problem with the rest of the tracks. The song is a kind of mix of Whitesnake, Skintrade and Skid Row, heavy, groovy and melodic. Most of the songs are groovy hardrock songs with some metalic edges, sometimes leaning towards power metal. The focus on this album has been to put on heavy and groovy guitar parts with melodic refrains. "Wrath" is one of my favorites, it is fast, has heavy almost thrashy riffs and not typical Soto, but due to the melodic refrain still Soto... Fans of Journey will find this album maybe a bit too heavy, but still there are some softer parts that will convince them. But I have to warn you, this is the most pissed off album Mr. Soto has ever recorded.

The most impressive song is perhaps "End of Days", one of the softer bit orchestral songs, typically Jeff, but with a child choir in a kind of "Another Brick in the Wall" style. Then suddenly half way the tempo changes and on high speed the song carries on with an excellent solo, to slow down again towards the end. Fans of the softer Soto songs (think Journey) will like "When I'm Older", but I like the heavier style more. "Trance" is again a song with heavy guitar work and a nice groove. Also "Jealousy" is a rather heavy song and not only in this song I sometimes have to think of the band Skintrade. For me this album was a big surprise, because I was expecting AOR music Journey style and not a heavy album with fine songs like this.

Fans of hardrock with some (power) (nu) metal influences, lots of groove and of course fans of Jeff in general will be pleased with 'Inside the Vertigo'.


Tracklist
01. Final Say
02.
The Fall
03.
Wrath
04.
Break
05.
Narcissisically Yours
06.
End Of Days
07.
Inside the Vertigo
08.
When I'm Older
09.
Trance
10.
Jealousy
11.
Karma's Kiss
12. Fall to Pieces
Label: Edel Germany
Distribution: Playground Music (Scandinavia)
Reviewed by: Reinier de Vries
Date: 4 February, 2015
Website: www.sototheband.com