Virtual Virtuosity

For those of you not familiar with Theodore Ziras, he is a guitar virtuoso who hails from Greece. He was born in 1975 and started musical training at the age of 13 with Music Theory and Piano & Theory lessons. A few years later he took up the electric guitar, which has become his main instrument of choice ever since. His musical influences range from J Becker, V Moore, Y J Malmsteen, S Vai, G Bellas,V Kuprij, V Moore, J Petrucci, G Howe, M Romeo, Allan Holdsworth, F Liszt, J.S Bach, N Pagganini and generally anything from Classical Music, Rock and Progressive Metal to Jazz &Fusion. "Virtual Virtuosity" is Ziras's second solo instrumental release, first for Secret Port Records. It can best be described as neoclassical metal.. Ziras takes bits and pieces of his various influences and makes them his own. Unlike Malmsteen, who concentrates on playing real fast and tries to be the center of attention, Ziras focuses more on song structure and melody. He incorporates his talents into making an album that improves upon anything that has already been done by such artists that play neoclassical metal. The production is very good with a well balanced mix. The guitar playing is phenomenal and doesn't overshadow the songs. This album sounds like a band effort but one could never distinguish that because Ziras wrote all the songs and played all the instruments. For the most part, the songs are very reminiscent of the classic Rising Force Malmsteen. I can even make comparisons to some of the instrumentals that Stratovarius have done over the past few albums, though not as fast. There are even times when the songs remind me a little bit of Helstar (Nosferatu era) and Sonata Arctica. The songs range from mid pace to fast tempo. They consist of complex guitar scales and harmonies which are complimented by keyboard wizardry, effectively keeping up with the guitar lead work. "Virtual Virtuosity" is very listenable but the songs can seem to be a bit repetitive at times because there are no vocals or lyrics to keep them distinguished. This album is well worth checking out for any fan of neoclassical metal.