2005-12-19
Daniel is a young multi instrumentalist, the son of famed Saxophone player Jaroslav Jakubovic, in this, his debut album, he sings, plays guitar, drums and some bass, and also produced it.
If I had to put a general label on his style, I'd say its prog metal with some grunge and rock influences, with his vocals being the main connection to grunge music, the album also benefits from guest performances from both his father, who plays on several tracks, and Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess, who also contributes some fantastic keyboards here and there.
The impression I got from the album is that Daniel J's main strength lies in his progier moments, with his extraordinary guitar playing abilities being the main focal point, he has a pretty good voice as well, it comes off as a bit raw at points, but most of the time it fits the music well.
The first two tracks show-off his heavier side, strong, heavy riffs, and interesting complex segments breaking off in the middle, but it’s the third track that brings another color to his musical pallet, this is much closer to 70's prog rock, a tight sound work sits well with the atmosphere here, and its there that his talents truly shine.
There's no denying that his talents as a guitarist are quit formidable, if the lead in Black sound like something spawned by Dream Theater's John Petrucci, the one in the second track has a more Steve Vai Vibe, he uses great technique and a good sense of harmony which makes his lead work quite memorable, and that's the obvious main strength of the album.
Its not a prefect album, the main thing that needs some tweaking his the vocals, though fine most of the time, they tend to sound a bit simplistic in certain points, but I guess that experience and more experimentation will improve that as well, all-in-all, it’s a high quality release with some tight musicianship, and the guy's certainly headed for big things, maybe a guest appearance on a Dream Theater album, just to return Jordan Rudess's favor.
Alon Miasnikov
