PETE LARAMEE

So,what we have here is the third solo release of PETE LARAMEE-the mastermind behind the very talented US prog metal band KURGAN'S BANE-and this new release comes 3 years after the previous one-the excellent CHILDHOOD MEMORIES!Beautifully packaged in a flexible digipack,the music of the album shows new aspects of the tremendeous talent of his author! He is helped by his faithhful bandmates from KB-his bro Jeff at the drums and the sensational Luis Nasser on bass,also the instigator of other great prog band SONUS UMBRA!MICHAEL PASSEN changes places with Nasser for other bass parts on the album and does that with class and style!Musically speaking,the album continues at a superior level what we know from CHILDHOOD MEMORIES-proving that strong compositions are making good house with great technical amd passioned play!All the musicians are absolutelly stunning-the production on the album is criminal-sensational-especially the bass sound is out of this world-and Pete's sound on guitar-on 7 strings guitar!!-can be compared with the sound of Vinnie Moore's guitar sometimes or Steve Morese's!This album shows how melodic style with prog elements can deliver some great songs and the masterful playing on all instruments is making an excellent audition,full of great moments of technical wizardries and superbe melodic parts!The soloing of Pete is so clear,precise and sharp-you can perfectly hear every note played-this guy,definitelly has the burning passion for the guitar in his hands,man!The diversity and balence between the songs is exceptional,not even a weak track on the album-a great musical journey indeed and ,in the end,the feeling that you made an audition of something so well done and performed!The progressive touch is very present,some killer technical chops-a perfect sincronicity between all the talented guys in the band -great midtempo compositions with a strong melody and very fluent interpretation!Definitelly,this album is the best so far for PETE LARAMEE-and I feel that this man still has plenty of "bullets " in his pocket-I mean "musical bullets " ,to offer us in the future other brilliant releases!4.5 STARS for a wonderful album and sincere congratulations!

This album marks the debut of PETE LARAMEE,the mastermind behing KURGAN'S BANE,a very respected and appreciated prog metal combo,with the charming LISA FRANCIS on vocals! Compared to the music of KB,this first solo album of Pete -ALONE BUT NOT LONELY is a little different,from many points of view!It's composed with passion and care for the composition,it doesn't offer boring demonstrative interventions or it's made for showing some scarry technical capacities,not at all,it's made for the passion for good music,clever compositions and mature songwritting and,definitelly is less progressive then KURGAN'S BANE!!We can make some comparaisons with STEVE MORSE,partly with VINNIE MOORE-for the sound of the guitar,and definitelly it's an album of melodic rock,in which three extremelly talented musicians are showing the beautiful face of instrumental melodic rock!Brother of Pete,Jeff is a very talented and skilled musician too,and Luis Nasser-the bass player are very competent and give Pete a strong help for a very inspired album!Especially ADENA WATSON and LA MEDIA GRINGA are superbe compositions-if I have to choose two,but also WALKING THE WALK is a the most ambitious composition of the album!Pay attention and give an ear to a very likeble and beautiful melodic instrumental album-guitar orientated!4 STARS for a very talented musician,with a sensational potential!

An interesting take from Pete Laramee on this instrumental guitar-dominated affair.

Somewhat unusual for the metal-based part of this genre, this is a creation where you won't find excessive amounts of shredding in overlong explorations carrying fanciful names of quasi-philosophical nature nor track names influenced by fantasy and science fiction based themes.

Instead the name of the album implies the inspirations; and the compositions themselves are tastefully divided between riff patterns, melodic soloing and the obligatory shredding segments.

Mood and atmosphere seems to be more important on this creation than normal though; shredding is kept to a minimum and the riff patterns come across as quirkier in nature than most of these creations; but at the same time accessible and enjoyable also to people not playing the guitar nor being fans of the instrumental guitar genre.

One to be checked out by fellow guitarists and fans of this genre, but should also be an interesting experience for quite a few fans of prog metal in general.