He may be one of the few modern day metal guitarists who had developed a style that has become recognizable as his own, and it is a shame that his playing (up until now) has really seemed to be buried under all the other shred-metal guitarists, even in the glory days with Fifth Angel. Well now is his time to arise.
Not only is he a shredder, James Byrd plays everything from quick arpeggios to smooth subtle phrasing lines to blues influenced riffs. It's as if you take the influence Malmsteen, Alex Lifeson, Robin Trower, and Tony Iommi, taking those molten elements and blending them together where he has induced a style of playing that instead of earning him the title of "one of the best guitarists you've never heard of." It blatantly earns him the title of "the guitarist you should know of."
Originally released in 1998; the reissue of
Crimes of Virtuosity is a welcome rebirth to the album that cuts through the mass of some of the "wanking" related records that have been bestowed upon us. He burns through track such as the dark "
Goodbye My Love" and "
Metatron, " infuses blues elements with dark metallic textures on "
Storm King" and "
Get Free," while running through technically inspired rock tracks (with some elements of progressive rock and Neo-classical metal here and there) including the emotional "
Shot Down in Flames" (no, this is not the
AC/DC track) and the acoustic ballad titled "
In My Darkest Hour" (not the
Megadeth track either). There is even a cover of "
Heaven on the Minds" from
Jesus Christ Superstar; so his playing is all over the place as far as his riffage and chops are concerned.
With a sound somewhere between late-period Sabbath and Rising Force, the groove is tight and the songs are filled with catchy hooks and memorable axe attack that bring Byrd up to par as a six-string heavyweight. It's no doubt that
Crimes of Virtuosity will get the recognition with its new life in this re-release.
Written by
Hashman Wednesday, August 10, 2005
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