Gustavo Diaz - Mystic Eye

Gustavo Diaz

Mystic Eye

by Marcos “Big Daddy” Garcia at 22 September 2014, 9:27 PM

Well, well, we must start this review saying that same thing everyone knows since long: guitar orientated album, in the greater part of time, are albums just for the ones who play a guitar. Rare are the albums done with an instrumental embodiment or orientated for guitar playing that are made for a broader public. But when a guitarist things on doing an album simpler, the results are always fine. And in the case of Brazilian guitar hero GUSTAVO DIAZ, with his first album, “Mystic Eye”, it’s the most pure delight.

First of all: his work is not focused in creating the faster solos one could hear, or with tons of notes. No, it’s far away from that. He and the team have done music in a very classical Power/Heavy Metal way, remind us all of works done by TONY MACALPINE and RAINBOW (in terms of instrumental), with a very sober way of playing his riffs and solos. They are a part of the music. And we find, along the guitars, very good bass playing, and drums in a heavy and technical shape, excellent orchestrations done by the keyboards, and a special guest soprano on “Marching Through the Flames”.

Very good sound quality, showing that Gustavo knows what he wants of his music: sounding clear and heavy in both ways. And the art done by Luciana Lebel is extremely beautiful, giving body to his musical ideas.

Besides the whole album being excellent, we have better moments on “Distant Paradise” (with its more 80’s feeling, sounding like a traditional Heavy Metal song, with very good solos and drums), “Temple of the Lost”, with its Power Metal tempos, demanding a very good work from the drums, “Race Against Time” (again a traditional Heavy Metal song with extremely good tasty guitar riffs), and the great moment of the whole album, “Marching Through the Flames”, with very good solos (here his techniques appears a lot), great orchestrations (done by André Tavares, one of the greatest keyboards players in Brazil, along with Bu Bolzan soprano voices) and very dynamical, with great tempo variations.

This is just a sample of what Gustavo is keeping for his future album…