Show-Yen is a power trio hailing from the Land of the Rising Sun which formed in 1998. Led by the incendiary fretwork of Yasuhiro Nishio , the band simply explodes from the opening sequences of "Reallusion" and never looks back. Mr Nishio's (guitars) style can be described as a touch of '70's Lifeson, with a hint of Steve Morse, a liberal amount of Fripp; fused together by a 'special sauce' whose ingredients are known only by the chef himself.
As mentioned above, King Crimson seems to be the main influence. Very tight songs which concentrate more on compositional skills than flat-out chops. The band describes the album as a "free-concept" , meaning that yes, the tracks fuse together to tell a tale, but the story is up to the individual listener. Joining our south-paw axeman on this journey is a solid rhythm section made up of Hiraoki Fujii on bass and Masanobu Tonomura on drums. They're merely there to supply a solid foundation on which Yasuhiro Nishio can paint his guitar hero tapestries. This one grows on you in leaps and bounds. Hard yet never abrasive, this is a very impressive disc by a band who can only get better with age. Recommended.
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