Jeff Loomis - Zero Order Phase
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Jeff LoomisEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-09-30
Music Label: Century Media
Soundtracks:
- Shouting Fire At A Funeral
- Opulent Maelstrom
- Jato Unit
- Azure Haze
- Cashmere Sky
- Race Against Disaster
- Sacristy
- Devil Theory
- Miles of Machines
- Departures
Free Music Notes for Zero Order Phase
Free Music Review: Miracles Don't Happen Often
Hit: 5 Stars
And actually, to be fair, this isn't a miracle because by any measure, one could only expect a solo album from Nevermore's Jeff Loomis to be an utterly top-shelf production.
On the face of it, this album is theoretically in the same vein as any guitar-dominated total shred-fest, but the difference is that Loomis is a composer of considerable good taste with a truly terrifying amount of technical virtuosity to back it up. Everyone's in here: Vai, Malmsteen, Buckethead, van Halen, and they're all being shown what it would sound like if they ... well, were Jeff Loomis. But one of the more astonishing parts of this album is the almost total absence of posturing. There's none of metal's crotch-grabbing one-up-manship here; just Loomis doing his thing to truly demonstrate how much higher everyone has to climb now.
Fans of Nevermore may wonder if this album is for them or not. First, there are no vocals, and their absence can be felt sometimes. Second, Loomis seems to perfect a compositional technique here that is different from his songs (and collaborations) with Nevermore. Specifically, he piles together numerous interesting ideas, and matches each with a marvelous solo--each song but the last is composed this way, and so there is less variation overall than one hears on a Nevermore disc. Also, there is less pure guitar aggression here; it's really not a criticism to say this, but if you are hoping for heaviness itself, this disc will likely be a little disappointing. Even so, the extremely varied range of guitar sounds is very yummy.
Personally, I can hardly doubt that this is the new benchmark for guitar, most of all because Loomis adds a composer's skills to impeccable technique, but I still find that I listen to it less than Nevermore's "Politics of Ecstasy," "Dreaming Neon Black," and even their latest disc. It's an amazing piece of work, but one I'll less frequently reach for.
And now onto the songs:
(One reviewer has complained about the length of this review. The length is a result of the many, many ideas crammed by Loomis into each song, making my usual description of them balloon out. If you're not interested in my attempt at a detailed description, then what I've already written above should already be helpful.)
"Shouting Fire at a Funeral," at 4'54", kicks things off with what will sound to Nevermore fans like another of Loomis' marvelously guitar-toned, crunchy, articulated guitar lines, complete with tweaky harmonic note, which is followed at 35 seconds by an even more delicious, cleaner, growlier variation of the opening line, doubled, with a very slightly "Eastern" solo floating over it. More layering, the solo spins off into a perfectly tasteful barrage of notes, and the song expands into a big, lush, epic kind of thing with soaring solo. Then, of course, back to the crunchy opening theme, and a very different, faster solo. From there, off into a differently, multi-soloed bit for a few flashing seconds, and back to the lush "chorus". And then, at 2'42" the song abruptly, and yet smoothly, switches into this ... god it's hard to describe, mid-tempo switch-back thing with yet another flavor of ripping solo screaming down from over the top of it, every note just as perfectly well-placed as in a Gilmour solo ... And then (oh yum) back to the opening again, tripled now, and opening up to a barrage of something like four solos at once, and yet all of it is not muddy, is not confused, and all makes sense together. The only thing to be said against this song is "What's with the title?"
"Opulent Maelstrom," at 6'07", really sets the expectation for this song, because I know Loomis can actually play something that would be an opulent maelstrom. It opens with some quick triplets more or less, changes key, puts a short billion note solo over the top, crunches for a second and then burst into ... damned if it's not an opulent maelstrom; it sounds like about 3 guitar leads smashing through one another with a breath-taking degree of logic, totally belonging together. After this, there's a sort of variation of the opening, and then at 53 seconds (yes, all of this in 53 seconds--Buckethead, pay attention), it's the bent-note lead's turn, with soaring solo on top ... which then immediately turns into a four walls crunch whirling around, so that at about 90 seconds, we're back to the opening idea, but just for a second before opening into another big, ballad like extravaganza. At 2'18, there's some utterly straightforward shredding, and then another variety of it at 2'42" (starting to see how this goes)? At 3 minutes or so, the opening lick returns, highly varied, with a solo warbling solo on top and then the mystery smash again. (This is about 2/3 of the way through the song at this point.) The bent-note returns as well, and it's clear that the ideas being piled together here are not just being strung together, but are being revisited, tweaked, spun around. I said there was no show-boating ... okay, at 4'37" Loomis put 800 million notes first in your left ear, then your right ear, but it's buried way back in the mix, and lasts about 2 seconds. A full stop (catch a breath), and the ballad comes back again, all reorchestrated, re-soloed, etc. Then even that finally relaxes into a mellow haze to end the song. Perfect touch.
"Jato Unit," at 4'41", wastes no time picking the pace up again, but the line that Loomis is picking out (as he always seems to do) is rhythmically compelling; maybe because he's actually picking it and not resorting to the usual stunt guitar short-cuts or sawing on one string. I mean, I know this sounds ridiculous but, believe the hype. This guy has it. Consider, for instance, at 2'50" (I keep having to pause the music, I can't keep up as I type) the classical arpeggios, capped off with the obligatory and triumphant massively high note, but the music turns away immediately without even a millisecond of pause to cut into yet another gnarly idea..
"Azure Haze," at 4'59", you might expect to be in a more relaxed mode, and indeed it is--essentially acoustic, with some floaty guitar lines like Brian May liked, which then gives way to a minor-toned power ballad instrumental, still with no shortage of ideas, and solo high-notes that rise up and strike genuine moments of beauty and emotional effectiveness. (It's truly amazing, for how fast Loomis can play that it doesn't draw attention to itself, and the reason, I'd wager, is because all those notes actually belong and make sense in the music--it's that song-writing skill again).
"Cashmere Shiv," at 6'16", starts without warning, but you know it immediately, introduced by a slow, alternately dissonant and resolved chord progression, and then crunchy, slow power chords that vaguely seem to suggest Zeppelin's Kashmir, but Loomis adds this snaky rising/falling line behind it and floating from the left to the right channel that almost makes the album worth it right there (he did something similar long ago on the opening track of Nevermore's debut album, and it was just as compelling there). Tons of ideas. Loomis' method (introduce a bunch of ideas, and then start piling them back together in different ways) is perhaps stretched to its limit in this song. It may be the most piecemeal piece on the disc, but the ideas individually are each grand, and they're stitched together with enough musical satisfaction that it all pretty much manages to hang together anyway.
"Race against Disaster," at 6'13", opens with a fast-plucked, slowly-rising bit, with several walls of lucent soloing floating over a straight one-two bass/guitar line. (Check out the neat little fuzzing at 3'11"). By now, the compositional approach is obvious and routine, but the limitless wealth of ideas Loomis seems to have (presented so briefly that there's not time to remember them, much less get bored) keeps one constantly on the edge and trying to keep up, so the musical interest is continuously there. Never mind the ungodly playing, taste, and technique.
"Sacristy," at 4'50", at least starts off as the self-evidently soulful acoutic-ish ballad, complete with piano before blowing open at 2:30 with seemingly 7 layers of guitar yum. This song particularly showcases how Loomis matches the solos of the quiet portions to the music at hand; you could almost think it was a different guitarist. (Of course, there are guest guitarists on the disc ... maybe it is)
With "Devil Theory," at 6'16", you'd figure Loomis must've peaked by now, or maybe things'll start getting repetitious. But the way that the song builds up, and the way each new idea, coming along every 9 or 10 seconds, is so ideally matched to some kind of accompaniment, be it floating chords, bass crunch or something else is just really almost too much to believe. Basically, from 4 minutes to around 5:30, there are seven distinct riffs, any of which might form a song in itself, and each of which is wonderfully matched to its solo. An obscene tour de force. This is also one of the heaviest songs on the disc, and so particularly a stand-out for me.
"Miles of Machines," at 5'45", starts with the acoustic classical display, and then switches to rock in 11 seconds, and then to crunch by 30. Etc. This is without doubt the single most note-packed piece, and comes the closest to being merely fast, but the contrasts are so abundant and the truly brain-stopping cleanness of the playing (like that doubled bit around 5 minutes) despite the fuzz has probably never been so utterly well realized.
"Departure," at 3'56", closes the album with mellow, slightly varied acoustic chord changes and rain. Perhaps meant to provide decompression after all that went before, still it's not a very satisfying close. Immediately replay the first track to dispel the taste.
While almost none of the music here gets to the kind of nastiness or aggressiveness of, say, "The Politics of Ecstasy" or "Enemies of Reality" to expect it to is basically unreasonable; this is a solo album, not a Nevermore album. And while I doubt Loomis aspired to set a new platinum standard for guitar accomplishments, nevertheless that's what he's done. If you have any appreciation for sheer guitarmanship + composition, treat yourself, and own this soon.
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