Band : Elias Viljanen
Album title : Taking The Lead
Label : Lion Music
Distributor : Bertus
Release Date :  19/082011
Release : CD + DVD

This album originally was released in 2002.  2011 sees it’s re-release, with the addition of a 7 track live-DVD, entitled ‘Evil Spirit Live’.  The DVD contains material for  the 2 solo albums Elias released so far on Lion Music.

Elias Viljanen will be known to most of you as guitarist in Sonata Arctica, a band I greatly appreciate.

However I’m not that big a fan of 100 % instrumental albums, not even if they’re as well performed/played as on this album.    And since I didn’t receive a copy of the DVD, my judgment was done purely based on the album material.
I must admit that I was surprised.  Even for an instrumental album, I was halfway through the songs, before fully realizing that up to that moment I’d not heard vocals.   Which should suffice to deduct that the songs on this album are really varied in nature and sound. At times Mr. Viljanen’s playing technique reminds me a bit of Steve Vai, which shows that he really is a craftsman of the finest sort.
So even not having been able to review the DVD, and taking into consideration that this is an instrumental album, the guy deserves all his credits.

90/100

Erik Morren.