antiMusic.com: Gustavo De Beauville

Gustavo De Beauville - Volume 1

.
Gustavo De Beauville is a brilliant guitarist, with a successful track record of contributing music for games, films and even other bands. However, Volume 1 represents his brave move of stepping out as a solo artist. I say brave because there's not a big commercial market for instrumental hard rock albums. Drunken Ozzy fans usually need something to slur along with, vocally, whenever they're digging on metal. Whether it finds a large buying market or not, though, this collection of wide-ranging tunes is impressive and well-played.

One can hear a distinct heavy metal influence on riffs like the ones that power "Jagannath." With that said, though, "As I Slither" is more of a moody rocker while "Seeking Solace" comes off more like an electro dance groove. See what I mean about variety?

It would be incomplete to merely refer to Beauville as a guitarist, as he also contributes bass, synthesizer, orchestral sequencing and drum programming - in addition to guitar, of course - to this effort. While some of these tracks are clearly built around cool riffs, many others have all the orchestral grandeur of a Marvel superhero movie soundtrack.

You may go into this project only knowing Beauville as a guitarist, but you will more than likely walk away with a better appreciation of the man as a well-rounded musician, after all's said and done.