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review by Dene Bebbington German musician Max Schiefele recording under the name Maxxess has plugged his electric guitar in once again to deliver more rousing tunes. Also making use of acoustic guitar and some electronics, Authenticity follows on from previous solo and collaborative albums in the same vein. Anyone who, like me, has seen him live in concert can easily imagine the enjoyment he must have had in making this music. I'm not aware of many artists making this kind of lively guitar led instrumental music coupled with electronic music trappings. The nearest comparison that I can think of right now is Shaped Signs. Listening to Maxxess's album one gets the strong impression that he loves playing the guitar and exploring different aspects of how it can be played. This can sometimes be distracting when he runs through a gamut of playing styles on one track. What better way to get an album like this going than by starting with booming electric guitar riffs and percussive drums tinged with some hi-hat for good measure. This piece is titled "Elements", it's made up of different elements because the excitement eases off in a few places for an interlude of acoustic guitar and a searing but held in check electric lead. The penultimate track is aptly titled "De-Layed". A simple melody on the plucked guitar strings briefly hangs around as it echoes away, all the while a sequence sounding like it's made by a bass guitar builds up. Some rhythm programming also comes in along with a slightly downhearted guitar riff. The piece keeps moving along with the lead guitar gradually becoming more animated, though curiously still feeling like a representation of feeling blue. On the whole I think that Maxxess's album Tsunami (created in collaboration with Axess) is his best work to date. Authenticity is another solid solo effort, in similarity to The Sequel it shows off great guitar playing making this an exciting and melodic album without any obviously stand out tracks. Perhaps the final, and longest, track "Trance-Lation" is the best on the album as it's also the most melodic. I can imagine this making a good finale at a concert where you want a parting piece of music to keep memories of the event stuck in your mind for some time afterwards. |
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