A member of both Mr. Big and Poison, a collaborator with Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith on 2021’s Smith/Kotzen project, and leader of Winery Dogs, Richie Kotzen has been running a parallel solo career since the late-80s which now runs to more than 20 albums.
Overwhelmingly self-played, Nomad offers few surprises, but it does showcase the strengths of someone in thrall to metal, funk and fusion, not least on Insomnia, a funk-metal wigout with gothic backing vocals.
Elsewhere the intricate, winsomely sung, super-tight ballad Nihilist jostles for supremacy with the swaggering attack of Cheap Shots, and the title track’s frenetic percussive clatter is further enlivened by Kotzen’s mid-song guitar fireworks.
- “It’s not about that guy from Rush any more,” says Alex Lifeson. But with four and a half solos, it’s great to have him using those colours again on Envy Of None’s Stygian Wavz
- “His vocals were often trammelled in Nightwish… but here he lets loose throughout”: Marko Hietala blends love and instinct on Roses From The Deep
He channels David Coverdale’s vocals on Escape, while the bare-chested, testosterone-drenched These Doors is all-out rock at its most timeless. No worlds are changed here, but a few will be enhanced.
