Curt Shaw’s instrumental album “Silent Assassin” is not silent, nor an assassin. It’s actually a decent instrumental album with an old school Metallica sound mixed with outro music for NES games. You know that epic music you usually get when you complete a game? Yeah, it sounds like that. The music is genuinely good but semi interesting. Most of the riffs are lackluster and the leads are more tolerable than they are interesting. So if you’re a fan of late 80′s/early 90′s Nintendo soundtracks…then this album is for you.

3 out of 5

Jeff Loomis returns to the scene with force with his solo instrumental project. The album “Plains of Oblivion” is mainly a focus on how good Jeff Loomis is on that Schecter he plays on. We get it, you’re a talented motherfucker…and we’re OK with that. The music can sound like generic Arch Enemy inspired riffs at times but sometimes he gets in this crushing groove and you can’t help but headbang. The leads are quite good, showcasing his true talents and using every trick in the book to pull off an amazing sound with his familiar tone and fretwork. It’s basically Nevermore without the silly singing over it. All n all, the album is great the only thing I found negative about this was some of the guest vocals. They weren’t necessary at all and really didn’t add anything to the album.

3.5 out of 5

Horisont’s album “Second Assault” made me want to sit in a room with a black light and just stare at posters after a few bong hits. It’s that kind of music. Even if you don’t smoke you know exactly what I mean. The music is very similar to the sound of the 70′s. It’s very rockin and groovin, the album just has a nice flow about it. I wasn’t 100% on this album at first and honestly I’m still not…it’s just not my cup o tea. However, I did warm up to it and I can get down to this if it’s playing at some random party or hippie bus. Good stuff!

3 out of 5