I’m always a bit apprehensive when receiving an instrumental record; I’m typically most drawn to lyrical content, but Rob Metz’s debut Legion of Dreams is an exceptional instrumental record that stands without words. Metz, who has earned the moniker “the six-string alchemist”, began his guitar experimentations at age 15 with a second-hand Kramer Striker. Although he’d received plenty of encouragement from his family and self-justification after winning his high school’s Battle of the Bands, Metz didn’t fully find his musical voice until being exposed to some of the instrumental greats, such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. He soon found a home with Warmouth Publishing (ASCAP) and put his first record on shelves in 2006. Legion of Dreams is a trippy exploration for any guitar enthusiast, starting with its Pink Floyd style cover featuring a light beam streaking across the silhouette of a pyramid set against a purple sky. Metz handles the guitar and synth work on the album, with a few additional musicians complementing with drums, bass, and piano.
Real musicianship is a fleeting characteristic in much of the popular music world, but Metz is an artist with an intimate connection to his instrument, taking the guitar to the brink of it’s capabilities and finding new ways to express the same sound. His album is littered with dirty solo riffs, begging for comparisons to the aforementioned Vai. In the track “Cruisin’ 5th Ave”, Metz seems to channel Satriani’s uncanny ability to speak with his guitar to drive a chorus line. These two iconic instrumentalist are the obvious comparisons, but Metz work is also similar to the likes of the Travis Larson Band, Jeff Beck, and John Petrucci. The most compelling part of Legion of Dreams is easily Metz’s emotionally evocative manner of expression, best conceptualized on the record’s closing track “Island Unto Myself”, a brief but drifting and ethereal track bathed in introspection. While many instrumental albums can be classified as background music, Rob Metz’s Legion of Dreams has reached far from that mark, with a level of skilled musicianship demanding (and deserving) the listeners utmost attention.
Reviewed By Trevor Dye
