THERE'S HOPE

Recently I checked out all the prog metal stream tracks on progarchives I didn't know yet and did a quick rating of everything I heard (appr. 60 new tracks !). The winner of this competition was ... this new artist I never heard of before, mr Marco Sfogli. I found out he worked with the DT-stars James LaBrie and Jordan Rudess, so it's not really a surprise that this guitarist appeared to be a really great one. I was blown away already by the stream track Andromeda which appeared a very melodic one and sounding like John Petrucci on Suspended Animation. And then we are talking about the highest league of guitarists in my opinion.

Another great guitarist that he can be compared with is Joe Satriani but I think the comparison with Petrucci is more adequate. The album is 100% instrumental so it's quite logic that Satriani comes to mind but as we know Joe is not on our site and everything considered I agree with that because if you listen to Satriani and Sfogli carefully you can hear an obvious difference in approach of guitar music. In fact this is an interesting test why an artist is or is not progressive. I possess about 5 albums of Satriani but none of them is truly progressive in my perception. But listening to Sfogli's style I think it's fair to say that the music is more complex, more varied and also more original and therefore rightly added to the site.

The conclusion is that this is a very promising debut that even comes close to the maximum score for me but as it is a little exaggerated to call this album a masterpiece I will leave it at 4 stars (4,25). Highly recommended for those who get intrigued by a blend of Suspended Animation by Petrucci and Crystal Planet by Satriani.

Marco Sfogli is one of the most talented prog metal guitarists in last decade, mostly known for his contribution on James LaBrie first solo album Elements of prsiasion. Also he has colaborations with excellent keyboard player Alex Argento, Jordan Rudess or John Macaluso and apart from this he has a solo career. First album released under his name There's hop issued in 2008 is a fairly solid instrumental prog metal with many excellent ideas overall. Sfogli playes besides guitar , keyboards and bass on some pieces, the helping hand is coming again from members he well known and work, Alex Argento, Macaluso or the top notch keybord player Matt Guillory among others. The music is as I said instrumental, but is not a boring moment here, he manage to incorporates beside prog metal elements some fusion passages, the result is great, the pieces flows from one to another very well. Sfogli is a crafted musician, maybe in places has some Satriani feel, but overall the album is great. Lots of breaks, nice guitar chops, and solid rhythmic section. A musician to look in the future, because worth it. 3.5 stars for sure.