Band : Tommy Ermolli
Album title : Step Ahead
Label : Lion Music
Distributor : Bertus
Release Date : 06/10/2009
Release : CD

At he age of only 21, Tommy  is already well known for his musical craftmanship as guitarist of Khymera and Twin Spirits.  And at this young age he's also already releasing his first solo-album.
The origin of some of the songs dates back to 2004, and the other songs were written and recorded over the following years. This album is completely instumental, and is predominantly rock based, with a few softer numbers. At times you may compare the style of play to Steve Vai, but there are other guitarists that he might be compared with. As I've already mentioned a few times before, 100 % instrumental albums are not really my cup of tea, but in this case I'll grant him the benefit of the doubt, because of the variation in the 9 tracks, sometimes Vai-ish, at other times you hear hints of Dream Theater etc.

For this album Tommy got the aid of his Twin Spirits band collegues Daniele Liverani (keyboards), Dario Ciccioni (Drums and Percussion) and Alberto Rigoni.

/100

Erik Morren.