Irradiance

Personnel: Nathan Sapp (guitar, acoustic guitar, classical guitar, guitar synthesizer, programming); Chris Rushing (guitar, 7-string guitar, E-bow); Donnie Smith (keyboards, synthesizer, Chapman stick); Gael Pirlot (5-string bass, 6-string bass, Theremin); Hunter Ginn (drums, congas, bongos, djembe, shaker, tabla, wood block, temple bell, programming).
Audio Mixers: Jamie King; Canvas Solaris.
Recording information: Crushing Productions, Atlanta, GA (04/2009); The Basement Studios, Winston-Salem, NC (04/2009).
Canvas Solaris are a Georgia-based instrumental prog/tech-metal group with a string of albums to their name (five since 2004), all of which combine Dream Theater/Yngwie Malmsteen-ish shredding with electronic touches, prog rock dynamics and compositional complexity, and jazz fusion rhythmic fluidity. Fans of Atheist and Cynic will find this as appealing as fans of Return to Forever or Mahavishnu Orchestra might. (Of course, there's probably already a fair amount of crossover between those two camps, so....) What's most impressive about Canvas Solaris is that they're a trio. It feels like it should require more people to produce music of this complexity and power. Each member of the group brings astonishing talent to bear on these multifaceted, ever-shifting compositions, and while there are guitar solos aplenty, they aren't the central point -- this isn't a Joe Satriani album. The group's all about interaction, counter-melodies, and collective action. And while it does ultimately blend into a whole, without individual tracks leaping out, Irradiance is a very interesting example of a group heading down the road less traveled, at top speed, with amps blaring. ~ Phil Freeman