Not long after circulating a six-track CD-R demo, guitarist Rob Pérez and his heavy fusion trio, Visual Cliff, inked a deal with Big Balloon Music to press, remaster and distribute the full-length version of their debut album. Instrumental guitar fusion-oriented albums are a dime-a-dozen, nowadays, but quality instrumental music is scarcer. Recorded in Pérez's spare bedroom (dubbed Parkside Sound), Lyrics For The Living is the culmination of a cutthroat recording schedule and nocturnal inner muse tapping. Pérez's style is at times reminiscent of Larry Carlton's and Eric Johnson's, but much bolder—sure, power chords aplenty, but nothing to fear here along the lines of eardrum-puncturing squeals and raunchy vibratto techniques that typically mark "guitar hero" albums. The other two-thirds of the trio are drummer (and incidentally, bassist) Rick Mals, and keyboard player Rob Klan.
Lyrics For The Living is divided into two sections of five and three tracks, assigned to Side 1 and Side 2, respectively. The Side 1 tracks correspond to Biblical Psalms which specifically concern music. The remaining Side 2 tracks regard salvation and spiritual states which transcend mortaliy. "Piercing The Skies (Psalm 33)" is a spritely, crisp composition anchored by Pérez's fluid tones. The man's fingers know their way around a fretboard; the solo at 2:26 has a vaguely Blackmore-ish feel to it. Mals plays the Roland V-drum kit that was popularized by King Crimson. The perc-sounds are reasonably authentic, and a certain cymbal sound that repeats is noticeably static in character, but it's nothing to fret over (no pun intended). Rob Klan's piano outro is downplayed, and perfectly so. "The Endless Generation (Psalm 49)" juxtaposes smooth textures with short bursts of power. The melodies in "Conquering Mind (Psalm 118)" are first-rate, this is a beautiful track difficult to break down into words. Some Di Meola-esque runs, intriguing melodies, and a revved-up coda make this a standout cut. "Leap Of Faith (Pslam 150)" switches to a simpler chord scheme, faster tempo and keyboard triads for a decidedly cinematic feel that reminds one of Rockenfield & Speer's Hell's Canyon, but much more rockin' than anything found on that release!
Side 2 changes gears thematically but is musically consistent with the half hour that precedes it. The smoother landscape of "For All She Is" brings Pat Metheny's more progressive era to mind, before he began serenading everybody into dreamland. "Wisdom's Call" and the closer, "Rapture," bring out riffing and soloing that emulate a jazzier Rush—the former's outro is very nice, while the latter is perhaps the disc's outright heaviest cut.
[Now graced with a beautiful new cover by computer artist Mike Bonnell, Lyrics For The Living is available for purchase at Big Balloon Music.]
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