Livesay Awaken The Giant
Judging by the press release you would be forgiven for assuming Livesay's "Awaken The Giant" was a re-released album from the 80s; all big hair, leather trousers and unbuttoned white shirts. After listening to the album it's quite likely you'll still feel the same way.
Any band whose guitarist (founder Gregg Livesay) purports to "mix Yngwie Malmsteen type shredding with the melodic feel of Uli Jon Roth" and whose bassist (Alan D'Angelo) combines "the power of Geezer Butler with the speed and finesse of Steve Harris" clearly don't believe in hiding their light under a bushel. Add to this the band's talk of creating a "multi-dimensional sound", "technical whirlwind" and "a sound that's uniquely their own" and you have a band with some enormous expectations to live up to.
Awaken The Giant opens with 'Zero Hour' a short instrumental, which starts with air raid sirens and gunfire before moving on to some serious fret-wanking and is a pretty good indication of what is on store for the rest of the album.
Gregg Livesay is obviously no slouch when it comes to nimble-fingered guitar wizardry and the rest of the band is equally impressive when it comes to dexterity. When it comes to musical ability Livesay can more than hold their own against other proponents of melodic speed. Where Livesay fall short is their incredibly dated sound; with their soaring vocals and keyboard runs along with Livesay's lightning guitar solos much of "Awaken The Giant" sounds uncannily like an attempt at Yngwie Malmsteen circa 1988's "Odyssey" with a few flashes of European power metal.
If dated shredding is your thing then you'll probably love Livesay, but their appeal would probably be broadened if they were to drag their music more firmly into the 21st century.