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GUS G.
Quantum Leap
AFM Records

“Yeah….SCIENCE!” – Jesse Pinkman

Since blazing out into the metal scene with Swedish progressive power metallers FIREWIND back in 1998 with the intention of crafting out a solo project, Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G. has not only made a name and an upper-case letter for himself in the industry, having recorded nine studio albums since 2002 with the band, but has also lent his guitar-playing wizardry to other bands such as MYSTIC PROPHECY, NIGHTRAGE, ARCH ENEMY, DREAM EVIL and OZZY OSBOURNE while both on the road and in the studio. And when he isn’t honing out his own skills to some of the top names in progressive and hard rock, Gus has finally been able to make inroads as the solo artist he’s been prepping himself for since his music career began well over 2 decades ago, having released three albums under his own name: I Am The Fire (2014), Brand New Revolution (2015), and Fearless (2018). With this fourth and latest studio effort Quantum Leap, Gus makes his biggest musical jump yet, incorporating both his traditional sounds and new experimentations straight from his self-described “riff vault” – and from here on in, I’ll dispense with the “leap” jokes in this review.

With a grand total of himself playing all of the instruments and both drummer Vincent Velasco and producer/engineer Dennis Ward respectively coordinating production/mastering duties and laying down bass tracks on eight of the 10 tracks on the album, Gus is helping to give the instrumental album niche a more respected profile in the hard rock/metal scene. As he describes it, “Instrumental music might not be a big seller, but everybody and can listen to anything, and there are no limits to what I can do”. It’s not a typical overconfident boast here; Gus really has married his own sound and technique in with new experimental sounds, giving Quantum Leap equal measures of musical variety and versatility. From the synth-wave powered opus of “Night Driver” to the mild blues balladry of lead-off single “Enigma Of Life” to the prog-rock mastery of the opening number “Into The Unknown” and “Chronesthesia” and then back to the catchy power metal energy of “Demon Stomp”, “Judgement Day” and “Exosphere”, there’s lots to appreciate for every listener throughout this album just as Gus himself has been able to fully utilize his guitar as a voice during its recording process. And as an added bonus as well, there’s a second CD included with tracks recorded during a 2018 show in Budapest in which Gus storms through an 8-song trek, featuring mostly songs from his last studio album Fearless such as “Letting Go”, “Mr. Manson” and the title track. It also includes a lumbering yet otherwise ambitious rendition of DIRE STRAITS’ “Money For Nothing” while the preceding cover of THIN LIZZY’s “Cold Sweat” is definitely within the top three numbers on the live CD.

Overall, Gus G still continues to blind the fans and his contemporaries with his fast-driving musical science. Like instrumental poetry in motion, Quantum Leap is guaranteed to grant him more high-flying air time.

4.5 Out Of 5.0

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