Gus G must have wet his proverbial pants when a host of stars, including Candlemass’s Mats Levén and Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson, agreed to appear on his solo debut.
Alas, the cameos eclipsed the Ozzy guitarist’s genius-like shredding and never satisfied fans’ lust for blazing neo-classical technicality.
Praise the riff lords, then, that follow-up Brand New Revolution begins in a more Malmsteen-worshipping fashion. Literally a second in and Gus is fingering his fretboard like there’s no tomorrow. The title track, led by Adler’s Jacob Bunton, is a heavy slab of rock, and generally there’s a more crushing aesthetic to Brand New Revolution, but the occasional AOR booby traps, like schmaltzy One More Try, are real passion killers. Levén and ex-Journey man Jeff Scott Soto once again offer up their vocals on some hit and miss tracks, but Amaranthe’s Elize Ryd on What Lies Below and the dark and stormy The Demon Inside steal the show.
