Saturday, April 2, 2016

REVIEW : SOTO / DIVAK (2016)

Album number two for the legendary Jeff Scott Soto and his new band with the title "Divak". Back in 2014, SOTO delivered a well-crafted and very solid debut opus that mixed perfectly hard rock, melodic metal, modern rock, with a strong progressive touch, and, at the end, it left us hungry for more.

Finally, "Divak" is here and, in my humble opinion, it's a killer record all the way. The new album is heavy but with a strong emphasis in melody (as always it is expected with Soto) and includes big choruses, great arrangements, a tight as hell musicianship and, of course, superb performances.

"Weight Of The World" is really huge!! A big in-your-face rocker that brings back memories from Soto's earlier work with Talisman. After the groovier and modern "Freakshow" comes the riff-tastic "Paranoia" which is among my favorites from the new album. Another killer track is without any doubt the 'darker' "Unblame". This is a more 'difficult' song but with a melody to die for!!! The modern heavy rockers "Cyber Masquerade", "Forgotten" and "Sucker Punch" put more muscle in "Divak" while with the melodious "Misfired" Mr. Jeff Scott Soto releases another gem in his fantastic career.

"Divak" is a killer release, period! Fantastic songs, top notch performances, some bad-ass and in-your-face guitars, a solid production and an excellent musicianship are the ingredients of SOTO's second album. Buy or die!

Rating : 9/10

Track Listing :
01 - Divak (Intro)
02 - Weight of the World
03 - FreakShow
04 - Paranoia
05 - Unblame
06 - Cyber Masquerade
07 - In My Darkest Hour
08 - Forgotten
09 - SuckerPunch
10 - Time
11 - Misfired
12 - Fall from Grace
13 - Awakened




No comments:

Post a Comment