The Demo Review:
Band Name: Project Steiger
Demo Title: Defiance
Band Members: Ken Steiger (guitar), Derek Sherinian (keyboards), Virgil Donati (Drums), Tony Franklin (bass)
Location: California

Rating: 4 Skulls

  • Official Web Site for this Artist
  • Discuss on the Metal Judgment Web Board
  • Submit/Read Reader Reviews of this Demo

    • Kefka X's Review:
    I love these sort of instrumental wankery CD's. You know the kind I'm speaking of. The ones with the liner notes littered page-by-page of old, fatted calves of men rockin' out, mouths widened in triumph with headstocks aimed high to the heavens. To give credit where credit is due (despite my never-ending thesaurus of insults), Project Steiger is actually quite good. While most of these instrumental records credits guys from horrible, lesser-known bands, Project Steiger hosts some pretty damn good guest musicians, such as Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater, Yngwie, KISS, Alice Cooper), Virgil Donati (Steve Vai, Planet X, Freak House) and Tony Franklin (Jimmy Page, The Firm, Blue Murder). And contrary to most of these guitar-themed CD's, the music on Defiance is actually listenable. The solos fit the music well. The background music is your typical progressive rock/metal spiel, but played well and shamelessly.

    I think my largest complaint with Defiance is the mixing of the guitars, which are a tad thin and fuzzy in contrast with the drums. You'd figure if this is a recording with its central focus on guitarwork, the production would lay the guitars in front of the rest of the instruments, but uh...nope. But hey, maybe it’s just me and the way my Winamp is set. Other than that, Project Steiger is a good listen. It may not be the forerunner of your collection but it's good to pop in as some video game background metal. That reminds me, I've got some leveling up to do in this sweet rpg I just got. Hey fuck you, my mom thinks I'm cool.

    Original skull rating: 3 skulls Revised skull rating: 4 skulls, just for the fact it's a lot better than most instrumental solo releases.
    4 out of 5

    [- Metal Judgment Home -]    [- Email Metal Judgment -]
    ©2005 Metal Judgment. All rights reserved.