Dan Sugarman – ‘Centersun’ [Review]
2016 seems set to be an eventful year for lovers of instrumental guitarists. Dan Sugarman (six-string slinger for uncompromising metal band As Blood Runs Black) is the latest to step up and speak his mind without words – and on Centersun, he has a lot to say.
The story behind Centersun is best told in Dan’s own words:
“This album is a bit of a departure from my typical writing process, in the sense that all 6 songs were improvised on the fly in a 7 day period. The reason? I had just come home from a 1.5 month long headlining tour with As Blood Runs Black with the plan of coming home to start writing and recording my album, when I received the news the day I got home that my mother’s brain tumor had returned. I was absolutely devastated…so I took a day to myself to kind of figure out my next move, and then I locked myself in the studio for a week straight.
I more or less “journaled” my thoughts and emotions in the form of music as it’s the only way I could really cope and deal with the information I had just received. The album is an intensely chaotic journey through my mind, lost in a black hole of what I perceived at first to be negativity, and throughout the recording process I slowly began to see the light in all of it.”
This album isn’t for the faint-eared. Blending the harshest metal tones with walls of notes spiced up with harmonic touches that bring to mind modern-day Steve Vai (think Real Illusions: Reflections and The Story Of Light), Dan Sugarman’s goal of cathartic brain-unloading has been well and truly met here. Although the video for Outspire is hilarious, my personal favourite cut has to be Triage – a track that balances the light and dark elements of Centersun perfectly. The results may appeal primarily to guitar fans and listeners prepared to hear fast enough to appreciate Centersun, but that’s no bad thing.
More than anything, Centersun is bluntly honest – and a great opening salvo from the guitar world’s latest potential star in waiting.
TMMP RATING: 86%
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Centersun drops February 19. Visit Dan Sugarman’s official website for more details.