| CD REVIEW Constantine |
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Band : Constantine Who the hell is Constantine, right? Well, if his stage name isn't familiar to you, maybe you know him under his real name Konstantinos Kotzmanis? First an insight on the man's backgound, okay? Born in September 1987, he started playing guitar at the age of 12, taking his lead from his record collection and the albums of Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest, and Exodus. As a young teenager he took to his instrument more seriously, getting influenced by such prominent artists as Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, Michael Romeo, Michael Amott, and Zakk Wylde, to include techniques such as fluid tapping-arpeggios, vibrato and pentatonics to his otherwize already versatile guitar play which ranges from brutal and sledgehammer riffs to soaring solos with memorable twin guitar melodic harmonies. Right, and this is where we enter the “recognition” zone: at the age of 19 Constantine replaced none less than Gus G. in the Sweden's Melodic Death Metal act Nightrage, participating in the band's 2007 Mechanical Massacre Tour with Mnemic and playing with the band at several summer festivals. Later in 2007 he started working on material for his new band Descending (released their debut album Enter Annihilation on Massacre in June 2008 to positive response from media worldwide, resulting in headline shows in Greece and spots at several festivals, and Greek support slots for business biggies such as Heaven And Hell, Blind Guardian, Testament, Gojira, The Haunted, Shadows Fall, and Neaera. They were even handpicked to play Lamb Of Gods support in Athens 2010). But even before Descending's hot trail of awed fans got a chance to feast their eyes, Constantine was recruited into the ranks of German Power Metal heroes Mystic Prophecy in 2008, and you can hear his splattering guitar bravado on the 2009 MP album Fireangel. Immediately after returning home from a successful tour with MP and Stratovarius in January 2010, Descending went into the recording process (at Fredrik Nordstrom's own Fredman Studios in Sweden) of what's to become their sophomore album, the release of which is set for early Autumn 2010. Somewhere in between Constantine found the time needed to record 9 instrumental tracks at Germany's Prophecy & Music Factory Studios in a co-production with famed producer R.D. Liapakis. With Constantine performing all guitars and bass, Frank Huber helped out with the frantic but controlled drums, and Greek keyboardist Bob Katsionis came to play a couple of well-placed and welcome keyboard licks. Because, in all honesty, I fear that people not familiar with the instrumental albums of such artists as Tony Macalpine, Steve Vai, or the other influential artists mentioned earlier are gonna find a first listening session of the album somewhat...dare I say, too busy? But give it a chance to pick up the nice nuances, and I guess even younger music fans will have to agree that this guy is one hell of a guitarist, able to combine both fast and calmer guitar pick play with melodies that stick to one's mind after more than one session! An album which, although perhaps with timely intervals, invites to be taken out of the cupboard for a run of additional sessions, for sure, and one which I'll carry close to heart and memory for a while to come. Sure, I've been a lover of the Instrumental Metal Album from the early '80s on, a fanatic of Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records, which brought so many of the great guitarists of the era to the fore...so perhaps I'm a bit prejudiced in the matter! So, by all means, do not take the underlying rating as a guideline for pushing to like the material on this album. I prefer for you to make up your own mind, see? So, just check out the couple (and take that literally) of songs off this album at myspace.com/constantine3000 (where you'll also find audio from Mystic Prophecy's Fireangelalbum, and from the Descending debut. 98/100 Tony. |
