Walker immediately grabs my ear, as the opening “Charybdis” features three great solo spots; sax, piano, and Walker’s stinging guitar work are featured. The interplay with the instruments creates a wonderful flow to this track. The opening of “Duck/Rabbit” has a clean, chimey, heavily chorused guitar tone. Once it kicks in I detect a strong King Crimson influence. Heavy syncopated riffing is countered with those softer chorused guitar sections and create a nice contrast in sounds. I hear both Allan Holdsworth and Wayne Krantz in his chordal approach as I listen to “Petrichor” with bass taking a turn doing some lead work. There is a beautiful and also haunting quality to that guitar sound, check out the intro for “Brooding”. I like the tension that’s created once the band joins in, and then the guitar and flute (Rex Gregory) take the lead and kick things into gear. Then, before you know it we are back to that lone guitar and a sultry sax solo creeps in. Finally, I get to hear Walker’s unleash another killer solo during “Mammatus”. “Mercurial” returns to Crimson territory, I love the aggressive approach taken and after a few listens this is definitely my favorite track. The closing “Dusk” might have you thinking we are going out on a quiet note, but just as you think it’s coming to an end, the song begins to take flight, and Walker leaves us with a fiery lead, that I would love to hear more of as it fades out. I’ll bet that master tape has another minute or two on there!
This is Walker’s second album, so I have more to investigate. I enjoy both Walker’s lead and rhythm work, and, to be honest, I’d love to hear him step out more for leads. Walker is a very fluid and inspired player, but I’m left wanting more, in a good way. Walker has surrounded himself with great players, and I’m looking forward to hearing more from this LA guitarist, but for now, check out Chronostasis!
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Track Listing
1. Charybdis
2. Duck/Rabbit
3. Petrichor
4. Brooding
5. Mammatus
6. Mercurial
7. Dusk
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