Psychic Transfusion

Andy James is, in my honest opinion, the most original and talented shredder in modern metal. It's a shame he doesn't have a wider audience; one of the most fantastic things about him is that he does not rest upon his laurels. Each new release (or session for a guitar mag) provides evidence that his already inhuman playing has reached new heights. Techniques that I simply have never seen before put old-school favorites like Yngwie and Batio to shame; tapping that combines melody with dizzying speed and cleanness couple with dive-bombing sweeps and light-speed runs to produce some of the greatest instrumental metal ever composed.

Come 2013, Andy is still growing in prodigious ability, and it is shown once more on Psychic Transfusion. I will easily say that his leads, even near-perfect as they were, have grown considerably; there is a bold confidence to them that speaks of vast ambitions. I predict his obscurity will not persist for much longer. Nevertheless, there are some peculiarities to this EP that may (and hopefully do not) speak of a growing new style. Djent as a platform for shredding has gained considerable popularity, with artists like Animals as Leaders and Cloudkicker gaining sizable modern fanbases. The riffing doesn't really dip into the djent pool, but at times, it does get close. The chugging riffs become dull rather quickly, and only the final track Avidity fully shows the formidable melodic metal riffs that helped make his self-titled 2011 album so potent.

Another point of concern is the occasional electronica touch; they don't really feel like they mesh with the lead lines at all, and if anything, they detract from the melody, which Andy has always been a powerful purveyor of. Some experimentation shows promise, such as the addition of piano lines on In The Fading Light, which could make for an interesting dynamic when more fully explored. The soloing feels a little tighter and more restrained than on the self-titled, and the emotion Andy is capable of demonstrating has doubled.

All things considered, Psychic Transfusion is more of an exploratory venture by Andy than anything else, that succeeds on most fronts (once more in the predictably flawless soloing), but suffers from a little dead weight with some uninteresting riffs and unpalatable synth additions. Andy will hopefully realize which mistakes the EP had made and return, taking with him lessons he learned and the positives he gained from the exercise to compose another fantastic full-length.