BLACK 7 – Look Inside

September 28, 2021 Bryce Van Patten Album Reviews, Reviews 0
BLACK 7 - Look Inside
  • 7.6/10
    BLACK 7 - Look Inside - 7.6/10
7.6/10

Summary

Label: Self-Release
Release date: October 8, 2021

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One Vision

Back in the 80s and 90s the concept of a single musician being able to write, record and produce their own album was a pipe dream for all but the most connected. In today’s music scene it is now possible for a person to create an entire project from the ground up and see it through to completion, as well as release, and that’s exactly what German guitarist Lars Totzke did. Over the last 12 months, he has written and recorded the album Black 7 – Look Inside which marks his first release with this well done guitar instrumental collection of songs.

Judge the Book

Look Inside is a collection of 14 songs that come in at just over an hour in total, and if this reviewer had to guess at the inspiration for the project name of Black 7, it would be the 7 string guitar that is prominent in the promo pic. When thinking of great guitar instrumentalists, names like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Tony McAlpine come to mind. While Lars Totzke lacks the flash of these famous players, he does have a great sense of melody and feeling that comes through in his music. Totzke plays all of the instruments with the exception of the drums, which are looped performances Totzke has manipulated to fit his compositions.

Final Notes

The music on Black 7 – Look Inside is compelling, and brings a great sense of mood and emotion. It’s one of those records that’s great to listen to while doing art projects, playing video games, or just chilling. The production is pretty good, with some room for improvement in the mix. While listening to the album, this reviewer had a flashback to the video game soundtrack to ‘Lords of Thunder’ by Satoshi Miyashita: cool instrumental metal to game out to. All in all, Look Inside delivers some very strong songs that stick with you, making this debut release well worth the investment.

Lars Totzke photo

Lineup

Lars Totzke – all instruments except drums

Look Inside – Tracklist

01. Unleashed
02. Lead the way
03. Lift up
04. Awakening
05. In my dream
06. Discover
07. Never stop
08. Look Inside
09.  Out of the box
10. Years ago
11. Hear my voice
12. Mysterious world
13. A story to tell
14. Time of my imagination

Author

  • Bryce Van Patten

    Bryce is an audio engineer and a graphic designer here at Metal Express Radio. From the day he purchased his first album (Machine Head by Deep Purple), he has had a passion for heavy music, which has influenced his whole life. Bryce is from the great Pacific Northwest in USA, and has played in metal bands like Babylon, Holy Terror, The Wild Dogs, Warhead and Egypt through the 80s. He had his first interview for the Portland, Oregon publication The Rock Rag with guitarist Paul Gilbert in his Racer X days. Then he was honored to get to have drinks, and talk for an hour with the legendary Dan McCafferty of Nazareth for his second interview. In 2013, he spent an amazing hour talking to Andi Deris of Helloween, which was the high point of his heavy metal journalism.   In the year 2001, he formed Man in Black Music Publishing. They released recordings by several local bands, and in the spirit of the old Metal Massacre compilations, he created a 2-album series called The Defenders of Metal. The albums featured classic styled Metal bands from all around the world, with bands from Australia to England, and from Argentina to Russia. Currently, he is the producer/creator/vocalist of the Metal band The Black Tuesdays.

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