Sebastian Salinas
Demo Independent

by Matthew Hoffman
Staff Writer

Comments: Another guitar hero, in the form of Sebastian Salinas from Cordoba, Argentina, has arrived. His nine-track demo contains three original songs and six cover tracks. The styles range from bluesy rock to clean progressive instrumental metal and of course the prerequisite neo-classical shred. Salinas has a lot of talent and handles all of these styles relatively well.

The shred sees a few issues with questionable note (possibly technique) choices creating less than smooth transition between parts. These awkward notes mar the tracks from really flying through the stratosphere, though they are still solid. These original songs however do feature tremendous speed through the chord progressions and dozens of trips of up and down the fret board. They also see very aggressive metal riffing which is something missing from so many modern shredders. The best of his three original pieces is the hard charging "Capriccio Dantesco."

The best of the whole album is certainly his handling of the spectacular track "The Loner." Here Salinas shows his touch and deft feel for emotion in thoroughly nailing the cut as it was meant to be performed. Tackling a song from perhaps the best all around living guitarist, Gary Moore is just the beginning though for Salinas.

He also plays "Highway Star" from Deep Purple, "Cryin" by Joe Satriani, and "Little Wing" from Jimi Hendrix.

The other two covers are of classical pieces from legendary composer Johan Sebastian Bach "Adagio from orchestral suite in D" and "Violin Sonata in B minor".

Both these efforts work really well and show more of Sebastian Salinas' acumen as a guitarist. .

Obviously with a demo from an up-and-comer the production suffers and several of the cuts must be listened to at lower volumes to avoid feedback. Salinas's choice to use drum machines instead of a live drummer is a curious one in this day and age as well. One would have thought the word had gone out globally on that issue.

The bottom line is the diverse choices on this record show his range of talents and while he has areas for improvement this is a solid start.

This demo is a good one and Mr. Salinas is certainly a newcomer to watch on the international guitar scene. Check out his style at http://www.myspace.com/sebastiansalinas1983.

Track Listing:
1-Capriccio Dantesco
2-Thunder in Heaven
3-Heroes Path (dedicated to Jason Becker)
4-The lLoner (Gary Moore)
5-Highway Star (Deep Purple)
6-Adagio from orchestral suite in D (also air on a g string) (J. S. BACH)
7-Cryin (Joe Satriani)
8-Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
9-Violin sonata in B minor (J. S. Bach)

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.8/10