Search - Derek Sherinian :: Blood of the Snake

Collection of virtuoso performances

Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 08/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While it is undeniable that Derek Sherinian has an incredibly impressive career as a keyboardist, with stints that include KISS, Alice Cooper, and Dream Theater, what truly puts his talents in display has always been his solo material. Albums like Planet X, Inertia and Black Utopia are all masterpieces of instrumental music with rapid-fire guitar riffs, mind-bending solos, and excellent songwriting. Blood of the Snake, his fifth release, also sees Sherinian teaming up with some of the greatest guitar players in the world, while it also allows him to explore the depths of world music, including his Armenian roots.



New to the fold is Dream Theater's John Petrucci, playing on the opening song "Czar of Steel". One of the best cuts on the disc, it has a cool Jeff Beck vibe to it, utilising husky bass work and groovy guitar riffs, and a memorable main melody. Petrucci and Sherinian trade off insane solos, as Tony Franklin's fretless bass and Simon Phillips' drumming form the rhythmic backbone of the piece. "Man With No Name" features Zakk Wylde both on guitars and lead vocals, something uncommon for Derek Sherinian. Wylde does a great job building a thick, Sabbath-style atmosphere as he also sings almost identical to Ozzy Osbourne on the first couple of Sabbath releases. The song could be a perfect tribute to their influences had it not been for the middle part featuring a nice synth hook (which is later repeated by Wylde's vocals) and a smooth piano solo. Add to this this great violin courtesy of Jerry Goodman of Mahavishnu Orchestra fame and "Man With No Name" turns into a cool Derek Sherinian number.



One of the most diverse Derek Sherinian albums, Blood of the Snake contains a wide range of material. Songs like "Been Here Before" and "On the Moon" are among the slower, more emotional pieces. Both of them feature Brad Gillis on guitar, duelling with Zakk Wylde on the former and exchanging melodies with Sherinian on the latter, which is all round a cool jazz piece complete with saxophone, synth effects, and elaborate piano. On the heavier front, Yngwie Malmsteen and Zakk Wylde appear on the ambitious title track, starting with a fuzzy synth patch and building to Wylde's trademark riffs and Malmsteen's super fast lead solo, arguably the best on this disc. Not only is the lead work frenetic, it also boasts a lot of melody before Sherinian chimes in to create a desolate, almost doomy ending. The duo also tear it up on "The Monsoon", where Wylde's mercilessly heavy riffs contrast Malmsteen's fluid neoclassical playing. This song also has excellent drumming and begins and closes with a beautiful oriental melody. As if that's not enough, the Swedish guitar virtuoso also appears on the appropriately titled "Viking Massacre", which, except for the amazing symphonic backdrop and 70's-styled analog keys, would feel at home on any Malmsteen album.



The two most interesting songs, on the other hand, are the fusion jazz of "Phantom Shuffle", driven entirely by a wicked sax lead, funky bass, and improvised guitar and synth licks; and the almost Night Ark-like Armenian ethnic fusion of "Prelude to Battle", highlighted by the instruments of the region, weird effects, and piano. You must check out Ara Dinkjian's albums with Night Ark if you are interested in ethnic fusion with more laidback melodies and regional instrumentation.



The album is closed with the classic Mungo Jerry cover "In the Summertime", featuring special guests Billy Idol with whom Sherinian has been touring as of late and former Guns N' Roses axeman Slash. While it's a fun song, performed successfully, I am not sure it fits with the rest of the material. Maybe it's because Sherinian has always put out more serious songs before, but this one comes across a bit cheesy I'm afraid. There is a two-minute silence at the end before you hear the band drinking and laughing and someone angrily pounding at the door. The guy, who's supposedly Sherinian's neighbour, asks them to keep it down, but Sherinian simply says, "Take it easy, dude. We just finished Blood of the Snake". Given this context, I can see why they chose to end the album with this cover.



Overall, a very good collection of virtuoso performances, great melodies, and solid production."

Blast Magazine review of Blood Of The Moon

Darrell Finley | Hartford, Kentucky | 08/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Derek Sherinian - 'Blood Of The Snake'

Released in 2006 on Inside Out Records

THE BAND:

Derek Sherinian - keyboards

**See Track By Track**





TRACK BY TRACK:

1.) "Czar Of Steel" - (John Petrucci - guitar, Tony Franklin - fretless bass, Simon Phillips - drums) -Instrumental

2.) "Man With No Name - (Zakk Wylde - vocals & guitars, Jerry Goodman - violin, Tony Franklin - fretless bass, Brian Tichy - bass & drums) - From the opening guitar lick of this intro section there is absolutely no mistaking who is playing lead guitar. The intro kicks off with a Zakk lead guitar effect. There is a small lead guitar riff that leads into the verse from the intro section. Zakk used the same rhythm guitar arrangement for the verse as the intro arrangement. Brian used an open hi-hat for the intro then closes it for the pre-verse, this changes the dynamics of the song just enough to give the pre-verse a different feel. About halfway through the verse Derek kicks in with a very subtle keyboard arrangement. There is a musical rhythm change for the chorus. Over the top of this rhythm change Zakk sings a few vocal accents. At times through the musical chorus there is what sounds like an electric violin arrangement. The violin really troughs you for a second because you don't expect it. Underneath the second verse Zakk added a couple lead guitar licks to the rhythm guitar arrangement. This changes the arrangement just enough to keep the song fresh sounding. For the last lyric line of the second chorus there was a small vocal effect added to Zakk's vocals. After the second chorus there is a huge breakdown section that consisted of a small keyboard solo. You can really hear Tony's fretless bass line at the tail end of the keyboard solo. Tony's fretless bass line was very reminiscent of the stuff he played when he was with 'Blue Murder'. Tony even goes as far as incorporating a few bass harmonics! Zakk's vocal sound at the end of the breakdown section had a very older Black Sabbath sound to it. Brian leads into the major keyboard solo with a double bass drum pattern. I never thought I would say this...but this is one of the most intense keyboard solos I have ever heard. The second half of the solo was done by Zakk on guitar. I didn't dawn on me until typing this out, but outside of the fretless bass line of the breakdown section you can not hear the bass line. This is because the bass was either turned down or because there was so much else going on that it was drowned out. There is a second minor keyboard solo that leads into the outro section of the song. There are a couple Zakk vocal accents over the top of the short outro.

3.) "Phantom Shuffle - (Brandon Fields - sax, Jimmy Johnson - bass, Simon Philips - drums) - Instrumental

4.) "Been Here Before" - (Brad Gillis - guitar, Jerry Goodman - violin, Tony Franklin - fretless bass, Simon Philips - drums) - Instrumental

5.) "Blood On The Snake" - (Yngwie Malmsteen - guitar, Zakk Wylde - guitar, Tony Franklin - fretless bass, Brian Tichy - drums) - Instrumental

6.) "On The Moon - (Brad Gillis - guitar, Tony Franklin - fretless bass - Simon Philips - drums) - Instrumental

7.) "The Monsoon" - (Zakk Wylde - guitar, Yngwie Malmsteen - guitar, John 'JD' Deservio - bass, Brian Tichy - drums, Dimitris Mahlis - ovd) - Instrumental

8.) "Prelude To Battle" - (Divan Gasparyan - duduk & vocals, Tony Franklin - fretless bass, Jerry Goodman - violin, Dimitris Mahlis - ovd, Mike Shapiro - percussion, Brian Tichy - acoustic guitar) -This track consists of a duduk. The duduk pronounced as (du'duk) is a traditional woodwind instrument popular in the Caucasus region. A kind of blocked-end flute, which in some part of Macedonia is also called kaval or kavalce. Made of barberry, maple or other wood. More or less an instrumental with vocal accents over the top of the musical arrangements.

9.) "Viking Massacre" - (Yngwie Malmsteen - guitar, Brian Tichy - drums) - Instrumental

10.) "In The Summertime" - (Billy Idol - vocals, Slash - lead guitar, Tony Franklin - bass, Brian Tichy - drums & guitar) - A very cool cover of the Mungo Jerry hit.



Let's look at the two tracks with vocals first. Track two features the amazing Zakk Wylde on guitar and vocals. If did not know this was a Derek Sherinian CD a person could argue the point that "Man With No Man" was a Zakk Wylde solo song. It is not just the fact that Zakk is singing lead vocals on this song but musically he puts his stamp on it. Of course it does not hurt that he did help in the writing of it. The only other track that has vocals is the Mungo Jerry cover featuring Billy Idol on vocals. I don't know why but it is very difficult to imagine a group of hard rockers recording this song. It is just one of those covers that you don't expect. Either way the guys drill it! The rest of the eight tracks are instrumentals. In the almost ten years Blast Magazine has been in existence I bet I have said this one-thousand times, "If you are a young musician and really want to learn to play study a instrumentalist." 'Blood On The Snake' is without a doubt no exception except one or two points. The first point is, unlike most instrumentalist like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai who play all instruments themselves, use studio musicians, or electronic devices for the other musical arrangements, Derek went out and hired actual talent to play on his release. An how can you go wrong with the likes of, Zakk Wylde, Brad Gillis (who is one of the top 5 underrated guitarist of all time), Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony Franklin, and Simon Philips. The second point is, with most instrumental CD all the songs sound the same. But outside of "Man With No Name" every song sounds like someone else. An one might say well the reason that is is because it's different back-up band on each song. But you not only hear, Brad Gillis & Yngwie Malmsteen but you can also hear Jimmy Page & David Gilmore just to name a few. An that takes talent! If you are a young keyboard player, young guitarist, into progressive metal, or if your into instrumental music then you should really check Derek Sherinian's 'Blood Of The Snake'. Though this release is probably very deserving of a Blast Magazine Diamond Award I can only give it gold record status because this is the first release I have heard from the artist an have nothing to compare it to.



"

High-Quality Performances That Rock!

Russ Bellinger | Bradenton, Florida USA | 08/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Derek Sherinian's latest "Blood Of The Snake" is an extremely enjoyable listen if you like guitar, keyboards, drums and bass. I am a huge fan of drummer Simon Phillips and I'm continuously amazed that after decades of playing with all the best musicians he still plays with such amazing punch and energy. He is an excellent jazz drummer and a powerful and complex rock drummer. My favorite track is "Man With No Name" where Zakk Wylde displays intense guitar work. I also enjoyed hearing Derek and John Petrucci perform together on the first track - man! that track rocks ferosciously! The entire CD is top-notch performances by everyone involved. Maybe not as great as "Mythology" which I consider to be his best work, but every bit well-worth owning and listening to. Enjoy the best!"