Polarizing Lines

You think I’m kidding here, but with the man having seven fully operational projects at present, soon the Earth will be thoroughly mapped out by his guitar prowess, and jumping into another dimension for further shredding exploits may seem like the only logical follow-up. I’ll personally miss the man if he does happen to cross over yonder, and not only because I was left torn to shreds by his infernal symphony “Guitar Distortion” in the distant 1993, the finest all-instrumental outing these ears have ever come across. There wasn’t much actual shredding on that one, it was largely a riff-driven tech-thrash/death affair that still leaves me smitten after all these years.

Another feat of the kind never followed suit, though, the “Infinite Opposition” EP eventually hitting the shreddy parameters for a much more streamlined, also calmer guitar hero product, with Knapp leaving his solo career aside right afterwards in order to court other sides of the metal spectre: black (Darken, Waxen), death (Godless Rising), and power/speed with arguably his most famous creation Onward.

It was nearly ten years after the EP release when the man shot something under his own name, the album reviewed here. It’s another all-instrumental opus this one but the material presented is way edgier than the easy-livin’ strokes from the preceding EP, sometimes Knapp’s style acquiring flashier nuances ala Yngwie Malmsteen (“Transvection”), sometimes caressing the listener’s psyche with more atmospheric, less exuberant mosaics ala Steve Vai (“Crystal Pilots”), sometimes moshing on full-throttle with an overt speed metal flair (the title-track, “Wizard Archer”), these rowdy odysseys rivalling the best from the repertoire of the Marty Friedman/Jason Becker collaboration Cacophony. The delivery gets upgraded to more aggressive speed/thrashy proportions on the very aptly-titled “Stormraising”, a vehement but stylish basher that still loses the prize for the highlight here, the latter going to “Into the Quantum”, a smattering tech-thrash riff-fest peppered by a few quieter sections and impetuous speedy sweeps.

A very tasty dish cooked by the tireless also very gifted axeman who, with this third instalment, manages to reveal most of his arsenal, not to mention again his ventures into other genres. Talent knows no limits, and it’s really good to hear the man returning to the more aggressive ways of execution, not finding it necessary to introduce a mike and a performer behind it to increase his repertoire’s appeal. A guitar hero is a guitar hero, he needs no vocal accompaniments to cloud his exploits, but the status quo got broken on “Misanthropy Divine”, another strong offering, a vocalized (courtesy of Dean Sternberg from Into Eternity) power/speed/thrash compendium, the overall approach coming as heavier and a tad more complex Onward.

“The Campaign” is a near-revelation, Knapp bringing back the all-instrumental cavalcade, save for a few cuts, but this is a far-reaching compendium with all the styles that he has delved in through the years combined for one rousing, highly entertaining power/speed/thrash/death/black fiesta which sounds surprisingly logical and coherent the entire time. Once the larger-than-life opera has been crossed off the list, Knapp didn't find it necessary to spare moments from his solo endeavour for other genres, and the last three efforts so far are purely shredding affairs, quite well done, sure picks for those who love their guitar pyrotechnics served with a more dynamic background. The man knows no rest, there’s a few more lines to be carved until the two poles on our planet form an ever-lasting bond… the architect of this barely human feat only needs one more blizzard of sizzling shredding histrionics… before pondering over a potential relocation somewhere up there.

I'm not even going to pretend to "get" shred shit. It's literally designed for a person with completely different musical perspectives from me. I can appreciate it from a craftsman's perspective- yes, I grasp that this stuff is very hard to play and (I guess) compose- but I really don't get the artistic validity of this sort of thing. It's not as though I can't appreciate a work that doesn't have a bigger goal than being a collection of cool sounds (I do listen to Waka Flocka Flame voraciously, after all), but I also find shred sort of inherently irritating. Hours of arpeggios, scale runs, and goofy glam-meets-power metal riffing is the musical equivalent of tubgirl to me. Still, I try not to begrudge the people or musicians who are into this sort of thing.

All that said: I STILL think that "Polarizing Lines" is probably pretty bad even for shred. I've run into a few shred albums I actually enjoy- Dave Justo's "Aura" sticks out- and they're typically the ones with a greater sense of dynamics and flow to their music. Toby Knapp's compositions, on the other hand, are straight tech demos hewn from the same stone as Yngwie Malmsteen, packed to the very brim with arpeggiated pyrotechnics or silly, Nevermore-inspired toughguy riffing that just makes me gag. The programmed drums and (probably) bass are static and motionless, with the former being a dramatic offender with its poorly chosen samples, awkward mixing, and total lack of any sort of velocity mapping, making this feel just as mechanical and sterile as shred is often fancied to be by its detractors. More importantly, though, the songs are simply boring; no amount of fretboard wizardry can help save the fact that the tracks are all basically just incoherent arrangements of unrelated riffs and leads that don't ever communicate a single idea or vision. This, combined with the really bizarre melodic sense which runs the gamut between typical Yngwie shred, bluesy noodling, and even bizarre fragments of '80s pop and glam makes for one of the most gangly, inappropriate-sounding records in my collection.

I don't like shred in general, but I know that there's good and bad shred, and "Polarizing Lines" falls firmly into the latter category. Check out some of Knapp's other work projects, where his skills on guitar are put to better use in more coherent, riff-based songs; this is probably needless for just about anyone out there.