Customer Reviews

Freak Guitar

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Freak Kitchen - the band that is a genre of metal unto itself. My guess is that you have never heard of them, and likely never heard of their guitarist Mattias Eklundh. Well, here's your chance to check him out and all his wild genius.

From the get-go, Eklundh's technique evokes Steve Vai and Zappa, and I believe fans of either will enjoy this. (In fact, this album was released by Vai's own label.) His sense of humor is also evident - "Apparatus" wails at strident pitches with a funky rhythm, all the while producing indistinct effects by placing a small vibrator (the song's namesake) near the pick-ups. Like my favorite guitar players, Eklundh will make you laugh and rock out and lull you to a meditative state. After the sizzling opener "Apparatus", the 21 tracks that follow encapsulate an insanely wide spectrum of style and inventive technique.

The heavy metal side is present, naturally. "Lisa's Passion for Heavy Metal" is a groovy riff monster, and "God - The Mechanic" is an intensive shredding piece with an infectious rhythm. The more playful and/or experimental side is more interesting to me though. "When Sam Played It Again" is fabulously unique and catchy, sweeping double-bass flutters, elevator musak, and danceable melodies all together in under a minute. "Evil Shower" is a schizophrenic and herky-jerky piece that is full of tempo changes that remain surprising after listening to the song many times. "Faith in Chaos" is a cold frenzy of chomping guitar riffing and furious solos. "Midsummer Night in Hell" is festive with moments of nightmarish sound. "La Bamba" is an elating electric guitar spin on a blissful classic. And you've never heard KISS' "Detroit Rock City" like this before - the nylon-string guitar and rhythm makes it sound like Romani jazz or something. And, thoughtfully, there is the beautiful "Time to Breathe", 10-minutes of looping serenity and nylon-string guitar heaven. The great ballad "The Grey Hat of Compromise" evokes Satriani with the careful, emotional bends and the "singing" of the guitar. "Our Man in Beijing" is the slow, groove-laden final song. I won't go through every song, because I'm lazy and somewhat stupid, but suffice to say there's a lot of diversity here. And it's all good too.

Is it an mega-indulgent bunch of songs? Well, sure...but all albums like this are. And just like anything else, it's good or bad depending on the individual listener. I think this album is fun through and through, with inventive technique that makes the shredding fresh and interesting. After all, there's at least nine million guitarists who can bust out 16 measures of 128th notes at freakout speeds, but most of them are incredible boring. While Eklundh plays incredibly fast, he also performs with absorbing depth and imaginative style that makes his record (and work with Freak Kitchen) interesting and gives it longevity.

The album's liner notes shed light on the songwriting process, techniques, and inspiration of each song. I'd be very happy if all instrumental albums featured such commentary. A nice touch to what is, in summation, an outstanding guitar album.

I saw a review of this album in a British guitar magazine. I also noted that this was published under Steve Vai's Favored Nations label and so my interest was piqued. That being said though, I was leary of getting another guitar album with lots of 'widdly' and no soul. Well it turns out this is a guitar album written by an intelligent and capable musician. It is interesting and challenging to listen to. THE GUY DOES "DETROIT ROCK CITY" AS DJANGO REINHARDT!

The whole gamut is covered in this album. Atmospheric stuff, Jazz, heavy/techno, Frank Zappa-esque weird stuff. It is fun. This is the most exciting and refreshing CD I have bought in a long while.

Go ahead, take a chance, buy it!

Probably one of the best guitar player on this planet. The songs are totally different,from rock to jazz to polka. Extreme skill and creativity,add to this a cover of the Black Page (zappa),just to make steve Vai furious . Brilliant

If you are waiting for a while for something different, well played without vocals, I recommend to try this one.
Mattias is a very good guitar player, some kind of VaiTrianiTrucci :)

The songs are uninspire and repetitive and the sound of Eklundh's guitar is flat and empty most of the time. And in general the album suffers from an extreme sense of Satriani-esque inability to let anything but the guitar shine. I love Satch. I love Eklundh's ability to play (same for Vai most of the time) but Satch and Eklundh could learn a little from Vai in that he allows his backing musicians to do something once in a while. There are a few good songs on this album - Time to Breath for one - but mostly its tricks and silly loops. Don't expect a musical genius here. I hear Eklundh is now with Jonas Hellborg. At least there all the musicians will get to shine, but the songs with be drawn out and have all the emotive capability of a rock.

This album is jam-packed with guitar-shredding goodness, yet is ecclectic enough to entertain all kinds of guitar players. The first track reminded me of Paul Gilbert or Eddie van Halen with the power drill, except Mattias uses a vibrator. Track two blew me away with some very nice shred. Track five recalls a familiar song. Tracks six, seven and eight are my favorites, showing a great deal of technical prowess mixed with humor. Track thirteen is another cover tune, this time Kiss's Detroit Rock City ... but it is done in Gypsy Jazz style a la Django Reinhardt, making it very interesting. Track fourteen almost lost this album a star because it rips off two chords from a Jane's Addiction song, but I doubt I would have noticed if it weren't for the tone of the guitar. Otherwise the song is a good exploration of the techno-guitar fusion. Very cool. I got lucky and found this disc used, but I'd be willing to pay full price for another copy if I ever lose this one.

This is one of the most original and creative instrumental offerings I've ever heard. Mathias has but one style, and Freak Guitar is it. He even uses a vibrator on his guitar. From a technical stand point, Mathias is unbelievable...and those sounds that sound machine generated? They are not! Mathias has pushed the creative envelope beyond reach. If this album seems hard to bear at first, give it a few more listens...it will become one of your favorites.
1. Apparatus - This song uses the vibrator. A cool rock groove on this one.
2. God- The Mechanic - another heavy grove with some really freaky solos.
3. The Grey Hat of Compromise - An absolute beautiful ballad. Joe Satriani would be proud of this one!
4. Lisa's Passion for Heavy Metal - Killer metal groove, with unbelievable soloing.
5. La Bamba - This is the coolest remake instrumental I've ever heard. IA's soloing on this one will make your jaw hit the floor!
6. Evil Shower - I love the melody on this one. Frequest time changes resolve into a killer heavy melody!
7. When Sam Played it Again... - Amazing sweep picking on this one. Then he breaks into an acoustic solo that plain out kicks arse!
8. Midsummer Night in Hell - This song makes you want to dance! Great stuff!
9. Numb - Another creative masterpiece.
10. (Friday Afternoon) In a Galaxy Far Away - A bunch of noise, but I guess almost everyone has a track that is musical nonsense.
11. The Satanic Moonwalk - Very creative - another heavy melody laced with cool keyboard sounds. You can't but help but move to this one!
12. Cornholed - Unbelieveable tapping! Really cool melody!
13. Detroit Rock City - A very creative remake of Kiss's classic.
14. The Territorial Thing - Another killer groove that only IA can do.
15. Time to Breathe - A very beautiful acoustic ballad. This is a very mellow song which will relax your nerves while you prepare for another dose of Freak Guitar!
16. Mumbo Jumbo - Killer soloing combined with a very catchy melody.
17. The Mud Man - A fun, funky rock groove!
18. Dr Pangloss goes to Lisbon - This one is weird as hell!
19. Faith in Chaos - A chaotic song - Tapping combined with a cool heavy riff on the old low B-string!
20. Revenge of the Bambi Loving Terrorist - Freaky!!!...but cool.
21. Squirrel - I love this tune. IA sings on this acoustic classic. Very catchy, this one is!
22. Our Man in Beijing - A very moody, soulful tune. There is even some banjo on this one.

Mathias offers a break from the mindless shredfests that are so common these days. He plays with feeling, emotion, and power! If you love guitar music that NEVER GETS OLD, buy this!!! This is one of the top ten guitar albums ever!

P.S. - Check out Mathias in the band, Freak Kitchen - THEY RULE!!!

This guy is like Steve Vai on peyote.
Great album.

There is one track on this CD that is easy on the ear 'LA BAMBA'
It shows what might have been. The rest ( all 20 + tracks ) are trying so hard to be unconventional ( which they are ) that they are not always a pleasure to listen to. Others have done similar CD's without trying to break every musical convention and have created more accessible music without compromising themselves or their music.
The backing is unconventional and sometimes machine generated. I would rather hear musicians any day and think this detracts from the CD enormously. There are far more accessible CDs in the same genre and I am not sure how often this will get a play.
P.S. This is my personal opinion and 2 friends of mine who share a similar musical taste absolutely love it.