Theodore Ziras - Hyperpyrexia (CD)

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I had come across Ziras' name when I had to review the debut and only release of the Euro Power Metal band EUROFORCE. Their homonymous album was very good and comprised some up-tempo guitar driven melodies and an excellent singer to go with. During my research I found out that Ziras is a guitar shredder that hails from Greece and has been in the Metal business from 1994, with his homeboys of ICE DIVINE. So, let's see what Ziras has been up to from 2006 in his Magic Sound Studios.
I have to admit that when Metal Temple's chief and evil editor (a.k.a. Greg) gave me this CD I turned to him with a frowning look; let's face it, instrumental music tends to be boring especially when it is produced by skillful musicians whose aim is to play as fast and as complicated as possible! Fortunately, my fellow countryman Theodore failed completely to get into this category. In his new discographic step Ziras  decided to spice things up by joining forces with Derek Sherinian who has shared his keyboard melodies with most famous acts like DREAM THEATER, Billy Idol and Alice Cooper to name a few and Brian Tichy who has done his drum duties with Zakk Wylde and Ozzy amongst others. This collaboration gave birth to Hyperpyrexia that features some really good tracks that don't focus only on the guitar shredding. Actually, Ziras gave artistic space to Derek who brought his own melodies and solos that actually bear a nice Progressive Metal atmosphere as can be heard in the fast Such And Such or in the mid tempo Solitude.
Seven Courses welcomes some really cool eastern melodies with distinct Yngwie Malmsteen influences while Number One reminds me of his Euro Power ancestry. The homonymous track is one of my personal favorites due to the catchy main melody and the solid as hell rhythm section (two thumbs up for the compact drumming). The only bad thing I can say about this musical treat from Ziras is that the vocals are extremely missed! I mean as the music progresses you vainly expect the vocals to enter; this creates an unpleasant feeling of incompleteness that eventually stigmatizes the entire album.
So, while feeling incomplete I take my hat off to Ziras because he chose to create real music for the sake of music and not for the shake of sophisticated guitar melodies and techniques that usually are for showing of purposes.