TOBY KNAPP – The Campaign

In listening to The Campaign it is obvious that it is one of those albums that grow on you and the more you listen to it the better you enjoy some of the tracks. Notice the word SOME!!!  Toby Knapp is a fine guitarist who can certainly play fast-paced. To say he is a guitar virtuoso might be starching it a bit. This isn’t a knock against Toby by any means, because he can hold his own. All of his instrumental tracks are aced for the most part, but his selection of music and vocals for the remaining tracks has one scratching his head. If those were removed and replaced by more instrumental tracks, this album would be killer. Nonetheless, it’s not. The music within most of the non-instrumental tracks are fine and listenable to some extent, but as soon as there are words sung, screamed, or expelled, some of which sound demonic in nature, the tracks are more or less ruined.

“The Campaign,” “Towards Power Unimagined,” “Telekinesis,” and “Plutonium Race” are the best tracks on the album; instrumental in nature. All make for a good Metal listen and showcase Knapp’s ability in many areas. “Conspire” and “Lack Of Inspiration” are possibly two songs where vocals aren’t a complete hindrance to the song and are a toss-up. Dean Sternberg (ex-Into Eternity) is the guest vocalist on those tracks. The tracks that are incredibly difficult to listen from start to finish because of the vocals are “We Are Legions,” guest vocalist-Jeff Gruslin (ex-Vital Remains); and “Reanimation,” guest vocalist-Attila Csihar (Mayhem). It’s a shame with “Reanimation” because the music is actually quite good as far as Metal is concerned. There is one track that just seems out of place, to say the least, and that’s “Wicked.” It’s too flamboyant and happy sounding and just doesn’t fit.

The one thing that is absolute is that there is probably something on this album for every Metal fan out there. And in the end, how many albums does the average music fan deem great from start to finish? Not many, and just think how many albums are out there to choose from …