Artist: Mathew Mills CD Title: "Mathew Mills Project" Reviewed by: Nick Martinelli Reviewed: 2/05/03

    Well shred heads we have a treat for you today. Neo-classical shred demon Matthew Mills here with his freshman release. If your a fan of players like Vinnie Moore and Yngwie, Mills is your man. He is one of The Shred Zone's favorite artists and were glad we finally had a chance to review this killer album. Mills is a Virginia native, and man does this dude smoke fretboards. So sit tight and hold the hell on to you computer chairs!

    "Intro" is simply what it states, a great lead into the record. Mills puts his melodic guitar playing in your face within ten seconds. After hearing that, I knew I was in for some trouble!

    Song two, "Discovery" is a melodic shred fest that enthralls the listener with some amazing hook lines and soulful guitar playing. Mills is the type of player that will wow you with technique and still make you say "damn that boy has some soul!" The main melody gets restated many times and truly is the heart of this musical masterpiece. Its a melodic pedal note line that ends with some blazing bends. This guy's guitar must always be on fire. Don't forget to check out Mathew's arpeggio skills, man they are superior!

    "Drive" is an upbeat tune that has some very driving guitar riffs and psycho licks. Mills doesn't wait to bombard you with over-the-top arpeggios and great shred. He picks his progressions very well and they will defiantly leave you wondering what the hell your doing wrong. The song has a very cool main melody line that gets restated throughout the piece. Mills really goes to town in this song and showcases every trick he's got in his bag of licks. Whether its, arpeggios, runs, bends or hammer-on, pull-off lines.

    Next up is song four, "Twilight part 1" which happens to be the start of this quiet obvious two part song. (laughs) The song structure is very complex and has a lot going on. The backing riff is very upbeat. Along with that, it morphs and progresses nicely during the song to fit the kind of lead Mills is playing over it. Mathew has a killer ability to to match leads with rhythms. Now here is something give a listen to, 3:06-3:10 marks one of my favorite licks from the album. Mills does a very cool run and slide combo. It was executed with the greatest of ease it seems.

    "Dark Travel" is a very medieval sounding nylon guitar solo piece. After hearing this song I was convinced this guy has tons of talent. Nylon guitar is a great way to sort out the men and boys. There is no overdrive to cover your mess ups. Mills goes town with super clean performance and captures the essence of what a piece like this should sound like. He uses melody and speed together for a beautiful listening experience. Lastly, do listen to see how clean his arpeggios are on nylon guitar.

    Song six "Castles" brings the record back up to speed with Mills's high octane guitar playing. Check out the super fly harmony at 00:57, this has to be one of the best on the record, and folks there are tons of them. Mills captured a musical moment with this harmony. There is something so pure about it that I can't explain. It almost reminds me of the score from the Nintendo™ game "Legend of Zelda," if you could imagine that. Overall this track has lots of cool shred licks, and plenty of balls.

    "Twilight Part 2" continues the on going saga of shred from master Mills. The main melody of this piece is priceless. Its packed with lots energy on soul. Mathew has a talent that I wish most instrumental guitar players had. Soul! We have to many players that shred billions of notes per second, but lose the listeners attention after twenty seconds. Mills doesn't bore you with 12 minute songs that are nothing but non-stop chopfests. He really knows how to write strong compositions and this song really shows it.

    Song eight "E Minor 9th" is a slower number that lets Mathew explore the guitar in a more mellow way, but he doesn't forget a bit of speed here and there. I really liked the backing rhythm guitar playing, its just clean chords arpeggiated out. These progressions set the stage up so Mathew can let his heartfelt guitar playing pour out. Check out the cool harmony lead starting at 02:14, guitar fans it just doesn't get cooler than that!

    "Solo" is simply what it states. A mega solo! Mills opens up with some Paganini movements at lightning speed. After hearing this song I really got a feel for how fast this dude could play! Also, give a good listen and you will hear one of classical music's finest compositions remade by Mills. God if only the greats would have known what their songs were being done to. Its safe to say they'd give us the metal horns!

    "Introspection" brings back some super cool instrumental nylon string guitar playing. This tune has a huge latin and classical feel to it and I know your going to dig it a lot. Mills busts out a groove half way through and solos like nobodies fool. Don't mess with the power of the nylon guitar, its wrath is merciless.

    Song eleven "Opus" is just that. A true Neo-classical monster piece. Mills rocks the symphony hall with some odd ball harmonies and even crazier arpeggio progressions. I had to listen to this one a bunch of times before I caught everything that was going on. If your looking for some arpeggio inspiration then I suggest buying this cd just for this song. He uses every odd sounding arp in the book.

    "Outro" brings the album to a close with a continuation of "Intros" infectious melodies. Mills slaps you one more time in the face with the neo-classical backhand just to remind you that this stuff is hear to stay, and you better like it!

    Looking back, I'd have to say Mathew Mills is a top notch, balls to the wall, shred machine that doesn't leave the soul at home. He executes his arpeggios and speed runs like a well oiled machine, but still has the soul of a saint. I can totally tell that this guy put in some man hours to his playing technique and it shows. On a shred scale from one to ten, I give this one a 11 for its creativity, soul, flare, and style. Mills is really on his game, and I hope he puts out a seconds record fast! To shred or not to shred is thy question...

CD's on sale at Guitar9.com
Web site link http://hometown.aol.com/mmills97/mshredindex.html
Forgotten Realm site http://www.wam.umd.edu/~ggalf/pages/matt.html