"WATER OF LIFE" - SLAV SIMANIC
9/10
By Nicky Baldrian
WOW!! Slav Simanic's "Water Of Life" is the guitar hero discovery of the year, Slav's CD is basically instrumental guitar workouts with a few vocal tracks here and there, but I was so gobsmacked with this guys amazing technique, that for once I am left totally bewildered and speechless at the sheer power and force of Slav's playing.
Slav has it all,the power of the axe is his to take to the next level and do what Steve Vai and Joe Satriani did in the eighties, and that's to redefine the structure of guitar music as we know it.
Each song has terrific passages that simply take your breath away, songs like "Living In Love", "The Holy City", "Resurrection Suite" and "Water Of Life" all have beautiful melodies and superb soloing,the thing about this guy is that he has a wonderful sense of technique, he feels his music and explores his machine in a way that simply numbs your brain. The songs have lasting effect and will stand testimony to other players for years to come,this guy is a major deal,the real thing man, I mean the last time I heard a guitar record that was this good was when Joe Satriani released "Flying In A Blue Dream", and it is so refreshing to hear an artist who is at peace with himself and who is not out to impress the punters with the Yngwie Malmsteen school of how many notes can I play in a second syndrome.
One of the songs "Days Of Ease" is a tasty vocal led AOR song,sung by Phil Naro who's voice here is lush and velvety the song has some lovely keyboards, and reminds me of Foreginer, Harlan Cage and White Lion.
So there you have it an awesome and very effective album that is set to make Slav Simanic the guitar hero of the MILLENIUM.
Shreddingly recommended.