By Vinnie Apicella

The self-titled debut gives the Metal Church guitarist the chance to stand out on his own… considering there are still four other musicians accompanying him here, such might be a little out of context, but in actuality, there is very little Vanderhoof, the instrumentalist, doesn't pick up here. The first track entitled "Bleed" is right away a wide departure from the heavy terrain he's been used to crossing with his other bandmates, as this one places its emphasis more on light melody and the, smile everything's gonna be all right slant. The jury's still out on that one though; let's hope things pick up. "Machine's" got a little Deep Purple pumping in the background thanks to the appearance of assorted synthesizers, electric piano, and a churning Hammond organ that gives this one its bite. Okay now by song three I'm ready to sing along to anything by Uriah Heep! There's a definite 70's retro vibe going on-let's remember, Kurdt's no spring chicken and his obvious influences are on full display here… aided with a relatively unknown but accomplished group of players-vocalist Damon Albright has that signature 70's vocal wail down, somewhat deep, slightly raspy, and maybe a little too buried in this song! Made up for nicely on the next one though, "Falling to Earth," the token slow song-an epic ballad in a classic Queen or Floyd-like tradition. There's potential on down the line, the further we go… Now the one thing I can't figure out is who played the drums on the album-Jeff Wade's listed in one area, fellow Metal Church alumnus Kirk Arrington in another… and damned if I can tell from the beat of the songs. Vanderhoof's debut was originally available as an import-only release a year or two ago… wanna go for three? In any event, here we've got a completely remastered version with extra bonus track featuring, ha-they had to do it-Deep Purple's "Burn!" All right let's get right to this one… oh yeah, very dynamic, strong delivery right off the bat, great cover! They got the guitar/organ blend perfectly synchronized and this Albright guy does a number on it! To sum it up, Vanderhoof's new, or we'll say "latest" release here is a step away from his traditionally known metal roots and allows he and his new band to stretch out a bit on the musical side of things. Altogether we're getting a strong dose of classic hard rock, a bit of funk, a little depth, and a whole lot of instrumental orientation that falls on the short side of progressive but still might impress those still appreciative of the finer points of music for its own sake...

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