Steve Bello
My email address was recently passed onto Mr Steve Bello, a solo guitarist. He was good enough to send his album through to me to check out to see what I thought so I figured it only fair to get something posted. As a guitarist myself I’m always biased towards someone who can play the guitar, and since this guy is an endorser for Ibanez who I’m a big fan of (I love my RG320DX today as much as the day I bought it!) I figured he should probably know what he’s doing! That said, nothing prepared me for what I was about to hear.
Surfing To Venus opens with scratchy sounds before kicking into a late 80’s/early 90’s style riff – then the lead line kicks in! Offering up some scales over the music before kicking into a faster solo break, this is one hell of an intro track to an album and shows what an accomplished guitarist Steve actually is, great stuff. Building and building through the track until finishing after some pretty damned fast action, this is how an album should begin. To be Human Again kicks in to follow the track and after a little picking action, the riff kicks in and powers the track onwards back into solo territory. Chucking some wah onto the lead line, this track has one hell of a funky edge throughout as well as some almost Jazz like riffs at times, the sound which he manages to create flows from start to finish somehow transforming at times to make sure you’re paying full attention still.
Title track Go Berzerk comes in third on the album, opening using some almost Primus time signatures and chord progressions. Once again showing off his skills, Steve uses the guitar to tell a story throughout the track, chucking in some insanely fast solo sections along side the continuing riff as well as some pretty handy bass solos which even Mr Burton himself would have been jealous of! The real treat from this track for me though is the breakdown section in the middle of the track which takes on an almost Dimebag style riff just to make sure you’re not losing interest, this change in pace before kicking into a solo purely backed by a bass creates this Pantera-esque sound which constrasts incredibly against everything which has come before it, but works incredibly well. As the track finishes and Scratch That Itch kicks in though the mood changes to an almost Satriani/Vai edge, focusing back on that guitar to tell a tale and power onwards in a solid yet funky way. Layering the track with wah laden guitar and some funky bass lines, this track has so much going on I didn’t know where to listen first.
Sometime Hidden changes the tempo slightly and moves more into the realms of acoustic guitar Hoobastank style, creating an emotional vibe which matches everything which has been played so far and raises it to a new level. Acting almost as a build up to Throwing Away My Skin, the track leads into an almost Metallica Wherever I may Roam style intro, using bongos and sludgy guitar lines to build into a solid riff underpinned by a straight forward yet effective drum beat. This track is much rawer than the others before it and seems to show off the dark side of the music, sounding almost like some of the more laid back tracks off of a Soulfly album, this track is complex yet simple from start to finish, you’ll be confused by it but understand that it works if that makes sense!
Penultimate track Chomp moves back towards that almost Jazz like edge, using some awesome slap bass to lead into the track underpinned by a solid RHCP drum beat before kicking in with an accomplished solo, this track is for any of you Primus fans out there. It’s disjointed yet works on several levels. Just as you think there’s no way this track can get any bigger, the riff kicks in just to make sure you’re still there and powers on, before breaking things back down to the bass and drums again. Leading into Insane Rain I didn’t know what to expect, every track has had so many different sounds that there’s no way of predicting what is to come. Insane Rain though ends the album on a heavy and funky note, using the distorted guitar to pump a funky riff underpinned by a solid drum beat. Again kicking in with an almighty solo, this track ends the album and leaves you thinking ‘Damn! I wish I could play like that!’
This is the first time we’ve featured a instrumental album on the site, there’s no vocals on any of the tracks but you know what, you don’t miss them! Throughout each track the lead guitar tells you what the vocals would be saying and with so many other things going on, who needs singing! I am in awe of the some of the guitar work here, it’s testament to the musical ability of Steve Bello that he can produce something along these lines. I could easily see this sitting along side the likes of Vai or Satriani on the shelves so get out there and check this guy out before someone finally picks him up and he's propelled onwards!
To find out more about Steve Bello, check out his page HERE.
Surfing To Venus opens with scratchy sounds before kicking into a late 80’s/early 90’s style riff – then the lead line kicks in! Offering up some scales over the music before kicking into a faster solo break, this is one hell of an intro track to an album and shows what an accomplished guitarist Steve actually is, great stuff. Building and building through the track until finishing after some pretty damned fast action, this is how an album should begin. To be Human Again kicks in to follow the track and after a little picking action, the riff kicks in and powers the track onwards back into solo territory. Chucking some wah onto the lead line, this track has one hell of a funky edge throughout as well as some almost Jazz like riffs at times, the sound which he manages to create flows from start to finish somehow transforming at times to make sure you’re paying full attention still.
Title track Go Berzerk comes in third on the album, opening using some almost Primus time signatures and chord progressions. Once again showing off his skills, Steve uses the guitar to tell a story throughout the track, chucking in some insanely fast solo sections along side the continuing riff as well as some pretty handy bass solos which even Mr Burton himself would have been jealous of! The real treat from this track for me though is the breakdown section in the middle of the track which takes on an almost Dimebag style riff just to make sure you’re not losing interest, this change in pace before kicking into a solo purely backed by a bass creates this Pantera-esque sound which constrasts incredibly against everything which has come before it, but works incredibly well. As the track finishes and Scratch That Itch kicks in though the mood changes to an almost Satriani/Vai edge, focusing back on that guitar to tell a tale and power onwards in a solid yet funky way. Layering the track with wah laden guitar and some funky bass lines, this track has so much going on I didn’t know where to listen first.
Sometime Hidden changes the tempo slightly and moves more into the realms of acoustic guitar Hoobastank style, creating an emotional vibe which matches everything which has been played so far and raises it to a new level. Acting almost as a build up to Throwing Away My Skin, the track leads into an almost Metallica Wherever I may Roam style intro, using bongos and sludgy guitar lines to build into a solid riff underpinned by a straight forward yet effective drum beat. This track is much rawer than the others before it and seems to show off the dark side of the music, sounding almost like some of the more laid back tracks off of a Soulfly album, this track is complex yet simple from start to finish, you’ll be confused by it but understand that it works if that makes sense!
Penultimate track Chomp moves back towards that almost Jazz like edge, using some awesome slap bass to lead into the track underpinned by a solid RHCP drum beat before kicking in with an accomplished solo, this track is for any of you Primus fans out there. It’s disjointed yet works on several levels. Just as you think there’s no way this track can get any bigger, the riff kicks in just to make sure you’re still there and powers on, before breaking things back down to the bass and drums again. Leading into Insane Rain I didn’t know what to expect, every track has had so many different sounds that there’s no way of predicting what is to come. Insane Rain though ends the album on a heavy and funky note, using the distorted guitar to pump a funky riff underpinned by a solid drum beat. Again kicking in with an almighty solo, this track ends the album and leaves you thinking ‘Damn! I wish I could play like that!’
This is the first time we’ve featured a instrumental album on the site, there’s no vocals on any of the tracks but you know what, you don’t miss them! Throughout each track the lead guitar tells you what the vocals would be saying and with so many other things going on, who needs singing! I am in awe of the some of the guitar work here, it’s testament to the musical ability of Steve Bello that he can produce something along these lines. I could easily see this sitting along side the likes of Vai or Satriani on the shelves so get out there and check this guy out before someone finally picks him up and he's propelled onwards!
To find out more about Steve Bello, check out his page HERE.
