Having lived in the Cleveland area for all of my life, I am surprised that I have never heard of guitarist Rob Metz until I received his CD in the mail. It is a great pleasure to have been introduced to the Akron, Ohio musician and his album, “Axis Shift”.
There are many guitarists out in the music world that are trying to stand apart from the crowd. But when a lot of those guitarists seem to come from the same train of thought as Joe Satriani does musically, it gets boring hearing the same style over and over again.
After hearing so many people compose music that sounds like Satriani, it is good to finally hear a guitarist that composes music in a manner that does not bring to mind that musician. And with Rob Metz, there is so much more to his music than just the straight-out rock that most instrumental guitarists seem to like composing. While based mostly in rock, the music that Metz creates contains some instances of Heavy Metal, and also some jazz aspects, as well.
Axis Shift starts off with a strong rock track entitled “Cosmic Ascension”. As the title suggests, the song brings to mind floating through the air. Rob’s smoking approach on his guitar playing gives a good contrast to the light feel of the rest of the instrumentation in the song.
One of the best songs on the album is “Desert Song”. The song starts out having a very strong jazz base, and then enters into a more rock-based feel. The two styles seem to alternate back and forth. And while the styles are of different mindsets, they work well together, creating a musical blend in the song that few musicians can duplicate. The song is one of the strongest tracks on the release, in my opinion.
Another song that stands out on the album is “Eastern Wind”. The song allows Rob to show off his playing style. And with the song having a slower tempo, it also allows for the musician to really focus on each note that is being played and not rush through the piece.
To create the album, many talented musicians from the area, including Byron Nemeth, another guitarist from the Northern Ohio area that creates music in the same vein as Rob Metz, joined Rob. Byron adds his touch to the album on the track “Flying Machine”. And when Byron joins Rob on the song, his guitar solo helps to make a strong track even stronger.
Taking all of the styles of music that are including in Rob’s style of composing, along with the talent of all of the people that helped create the album, “Axis Shift” by Rob Metz is a definite pleasure to listen to. And it is a pleasure to find someone from my area that I was not aware of. Now that I have heard of Rob Metz, I will be following his career. I suggest you do the same.
If you like great instrumental music, whether of the rock, jazz, or metal variety, Rob Metz has created an album in “Axis Shift” that should make any music lover happy. To find out more about Rob Metz and his music, go to his website at www.robmetz.com. You can also find him on MySpace at www.myspace.com/robmetz.
Reviewed By Matheson Kamin
