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░ ██ ██ Artist: Ola Englund ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Master of the Universe █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2019 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2019-06-30 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Instrumental Rock ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: self-releasede ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ A well-established disadvantage of the internet, █
█ and particularly social media, is that it gives █
█ anyone and everyone a voice and an open public █
█ platform. Conversely, it is also its biggest █
█ advantage, allowing creators and artists to share █
█ their output with the world without the need for a █
█ traditional publicist, manager, record label etc. █
█ Youtube in particular hosts a plethora of exciting █
█ and innovative musicians, and it was here that I █
█ first discovered Ola Englund. The Swedish █
█ guitarist is currently part of two bands (The █
█ Haunted and Feared) but it is for his Youtube █
█ channel that he is most well-known, where he makes █
█ the often dry topic of guitar gear reviews/demos █
█ engaging and relevant through a combination of █
█ wit, humour and his very likable personality. On █
█ the back of all his guitar knowledge he also █
█ launched his own guitar company: Solar Guitars. █
█ Quite how he found the time to record an album █
█ amongst all his other day jobs is beyond me, yet █
█ here we are, with his debut solo album, Master of █
█ the Universe. █
█ At first glance, song titles like ôPizza Hawaiiö █
█ and ôThat Youtube Songö make you think of comedy █
█ acts like Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords. █
█ DonÆt be fooled, the music doesnÆt reflect this: █
█ the whole thing is a serious and finely crafted █
█ instrumental album. Englund describes it as █
█ something different to his previous releases and, █
█ true to his word, the music doesnÆt have quite the █
█ extremity or heaviness of his work with The █
█ Haunted and Feared. The opening couple of tracks, █
█ ôPizza Hawaiiö and ôCerberusö, sit somewhere █
█ between Dream Theater and Toska, combining the █
█ progressive yet groove laden riffs of the former █
█ with the experimental chord shapes of the latter. █
█ The use of synths and backing choirs adds extra █
█ layers to the tracks, bringing a Devin Townsend █
█ esq breadth to the music. Not all the influences █
█ are from the progressive world: ôCerberusö in █
█ particular has a riff that any modern metal █
█ guitarist would kill to have written, crossing █
█ Black Label Society with Tremonti for crushing █
█ impact. ôSlutet pσ Skivanö follows a similar vein █
█ initially, with a hauntingly melodic piano █
█ introduction leading into a slowly chugging riff, █
█ but then goes off on a tangent with bouncy piano █
█ chords and a broken guitar riff that is as █
█ surprising as it is gratifying. █
█ The centre-pieces of the album are undoubtedly the █
█ two parts of ôSolarö. Both parts run just shy of █
█ twelve minutes each (more than double the length █
█ of any of the other tracks) and are where Englund █
█ really stretches his musical creativity. There are █
█ acoustic and piano led sections, large ambient █
█ sections, faster riff-based sectionsà and the █
█ movements between them all feel like a natural █
█ progression of the piece. Even the change into █
█ funk territory towards the end of part one is █
█ smoothly done due to the gradual introduction of █
█ slap bass in the preceding section. The surprise █
█ in part two comes courtesy of an extended baritone █
█ saxophone solo, with the switch to relaxed lounge █
█ jazz happening more suddenly than the switch to █
█ funk in part one, but it doesnÆt seem forced. This █
█ is the one part of the album where I feel that █
█ something could have been cut shorter, as the █
█ saxophone solo does begin to outstay its welcome █
█ towards the end. It doesnÆt appear anywhere else █
█ on the album so perhaps was given more time than █
█ strictly necessary, but this is entirely personal █
█ preference and does not have much of a negative █
█ impact on the piece overall. █
█ I admit that I was quite nervous going into this █
█ album. I will be forever thankful that Ola Englund █
█ has opted to make pieces of music with depth and █
█ structure rather than just laying down some chords █
█ for him to shred over (as some guitarists tend to █
█ do). The whole album sounds like it has been █
█ immaculately assembled, with ebbs and flows to the █
█ tracks that make it more akin to a film score than █
█ a rock album. A heavy metal film score maybe? It █
█ certainly has the production quality for it, with █
█ every note and instrument clear and distinct from █
█ each other. Whether you are after extended █
█ progressive pieces or short and punchy riff-based █
█ songs, there is something here for rock fans from █
█ across the spectrum. He may not be Master of the █
█ Universe, but Ola Englund is certainly close to █
█ being a master of our heavy corner of it. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Pizza Hawaii 5:17 ░
░ 2. Cerberus 5:15 ░
░ 3. Solar Part 1 11:42 ░
░ 4. That YouTube Song 5:04 ░
░ 5. Solar Part 2 11:21 ░
░ 6. Slutet pσ Skivan 3:09 ░
░ 41:48 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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