Member:
YESHEAD777
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by YESHEAD777)
Date:
8/30/2007
Format:
CD (Album)
Different Strings is actually the brainchild of one multi-instrumentalist from Malta, Chris Mallia. Mallia plays all of the instruments on the CD with vocals by Alan Mayo. He also produced and mixed the disc and states on the CD that "This is a home made CD to be sent around the world in search of a record label. It's done this way for financial reasons." Having said that, you are left after hearing this CD thinking about how much potential this CD would have with more professional engineering and production. There is so much potential here. Chris is an accomplished guitarist, keyboardist, and bassist. Unfortunately, the drum mix is so flat and muddy at times, that it is hard to distinguish his abilities here. The overall sound is very Pink Floydish starting with the layered synths on "It's only the beginning", and the Gilmour like licks on "All over again". The standout track is the instrumental "Beyond Infinity" where he really shows his varied chops. The 14-minute epic "Around the world" does not have much continuity, but does also include great playing by Mallia. The vocals are mostly adequate throughout, but at times are so poorly mixed that the vocalist is not really given a fair chance. With all this said, keep in mind-this is only the beginning for Mallia and Different Strings, and with the proper backing and production this CD and his career could go a far way. Lets hope he gets this in the near future, and gets the chance he deserves.5/10 stars.
Member:
Windhawk
(Profile)
(All Album Reviews by Windhawk)
Date:
7/20/2008
Format:
CD (Album)
(originally written for www.prog4you.com)
Different Strings is basically a one-man band from Malta. Basically, as Chris Mallia is the central person on everything here, Alan Mayo's only contribution here being delivering vocals. It's Only the Beginning is the debut album by this band, and is described by the band as a demo.
Musically Different Strings seems to have been influenced by a number of different artists playing quite different styles of music. The mellower moments here often sounds like a mix between Eloy and Marillion, but when rocking out influences from classic hard rock acts such as Deep Purple as well as more contemporary prog metal are easily heard.
In the mellow parts of these songs, floating synths underscored by acoustic guitars and sometimes-dampened guitar riffs are a specialty of this band, but when rocking out they explore several different moods. One type of music frequently visited in these songs are classic 70's hard rock guitar accompanied by heavy Hammond organ; other musical landscapes are variations on prog metal inspired themes; where especially guitar riffing and drumming are clearly influenced by prog metal.
The songs are nicely structured and well written though; so that combining these moods are done in a very natural way. And at all times this is performed in a melodic way.
The downside to this release is the production. The liner notes clearly states that this is to be seen as a demo release, and the production here shows why this is the case. The vocals really do suffer from this; as well as the general mix. At times, this also affects the sound of the instruments in a clearly negative way.
Still, this is a very promising release. Fans of melodic progressive music should consider checking this one out; especially those that aren't addicted to high tech production.
My rating: 67/100
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