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Vince LuPone's
debut album,
NOW AVAILABLE!!
only $9.99!!
Screaming into the
Abyss is also available worldwide through these online stores:
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Reviews
| Ultimate-Guitar.com:
|
Released:
Jan 20, 2005
Genre: Rock
Styles: Metal
Number Of Tracks: 11
The guitar songs never seem to get repetitive on
this album, and each song is so different from the
one before it, it keeps you entertained and
wanting more.
Overall:
4.7
Sound:
OK,
so I got this CD from a guy in the mail last week.
He wants me to review his album for him, so I said
hey why not? I almost didn't listen to it, mainly
because I didn't want to review another wanky
shred guy's album (most of them suck). I did cave
in early last week and listen, and man, am I glad
I did. I wasn't prepared for what this album
sounds like. The sound is huge! The rhythm guitars
sound like something off an In Flames album and
the drums and bass absolutely cook throughout the
whole album. The lead guitar lines are smooth and
beautiful, and LuPone knows how to kick ass when
he needs to as well. It sounds as if you put Joe
Satriani, Moby, Marilyn Manson, and James Hetfield
all in a studio together and locked the doors.
Once I found out it was recorded in a home studio,
and that LuPone had recorded every instrument
(even a few cello lines) himself, I was even more
floored. This album is major label quality, and it
was all done by one guy. The album is also
suprisingly varied. There's everything on there
from speed metal, to pounding southern rock,
electronica and even some new age. The guitar
songs never seem to get repetitive on this album,
and each song is so different from the one before
it, it keeps you entertained and wanting more.
[5]
Lyrics:
There's only 3
songs with vocals on them. Vince LuPone isn't a
singer by trade, and while it's not his strong
point, he's really no slouch. In the moving and
enchanting song "By The Time You Hear
This" LuPone confronts serious emotional
turmoil and it sounds like it's either a suicide
song or a song about removing a toxic person from
your life. I think it was left artistically
ambiguous, but I'll let you be the judge on that.
Sometimes his voice can sound a bit bland, and
this song probably would have been better with
someone like Amy from Evanescence. Either way,
though, it's a great moody song Type O Negative
fans and Dream Theater fans will absolutely eat
up.
Now the first song was good, but the second
lyrical song absolutely blew my mind.
"Forever In A Day" is the hands down
best song on the entire CD. First, for you prog
guys, the song's in 5/4 time. Second, it's got a
hard Marilyn Manson/NIN vibe going on throughout,
and third, the vocals are downright scary. The
lyrics go through dramatic and violent scenes from
a nightmare as LuPone recants the details
viscerally. His use of metaphor is outstanding and
the pounding, thundering music behind the words
sets the stage. The song goes through peaks and
valleys, and the music is laid out well with the
vocals, at times even jolting the listener with
extreme changes in volume or texture that hit just
like waking up in a cold sweat. [4]
Overall
Impression: This
album is fantastic, and even though it says LuPone
is on a record label, I honestly haven't heard of
Weeping Shadow Records yet. Maybe they're a new
independant, or maybe LuPone just made it up.
Either way, this guy needs to get signed to a big
label and fast. His music is so versatile, he
could easily play concerts with anyone from
Satriani to Dream Theater, to opening for
Metallica in a huge arena. My overall rating of
Vince LuPone's "Screaming Into The
Abyss" is a perfect 5 out of 5. A
masterpiece. Watch out world, here comes a great
new guitarist! [5] |
| Sevenstring.org:
|
Vince
LuPone: Screaming into the Abyss
Sevenstring.org Artist
Spotlight
The music
world is full of stereotypes, and as such,
predominately instrumental artists often
get shoved into categories. Guitarist X is
a shredder, a rock guitarist, a fusion
player, a jazz artist - the list goes on.
So when I received my copy of Vince
LuPone's Screaming into the Abyss in the
mail I, admittedly, expected it to fall
into at least one of the above categories.
I was sure there'd be a splash of
something different, perhaps in a segue or
an intro, but the majority of the albums
that I receive usually fit a certain mold.
Not to say this is bad, simply common.
Boy, was I wrong.
Screaming into
the Abyss isn't a shred album,
nor a fusion album, nor a run of the mill
prog guitar album - it's all of the above
and a lot more. Most impressively, it
never once feels like it's doing
"something different" for the
sake of being different. The whole album
flows from beginning to end without
feeling as though you're listening to
"A prog guitarist playing a slow
tune", or "A rock guitarist
playing in offtime". Quite simply
put, Vince LuPone's album is a seamless
array of well written, well played and
extremely versatile tracks that run the
gambit between moving melodies and
aggressive chaos.
The opening track, Spirits
Rise, sets a mood that Vince
carries throughout. There's a sense of
anticipation and pressure building from
the synth intro, the syncopated melodies
and the overall vibe of the song. Just
long enough to make you want to see where
he goes from there, it's a perfect mix of
heavy melodies, Vince's terrific harmonies
and a lush sense of songwriting rhythm and
timing. In short, it does a perfect job of
setting you up for the absolute
punch-in-the-face heavy Lay't
Down, a wicked 3 minute wah-laden
stomp that's a barrage of low end dynamics
and some stellar solo sections. The key
here is maintaining tension and a feeling
of "pressure". It's an earful,
it's tastefully done and is all around
solid songwriting that leads into Haven
from Silence - a song with
melodic tips of the hat to classic Iron
Maiden and Queensryche, but is
unmistakably Vince LuPone.
Going
forward, Vince isn't afraid to experiment
- and with hauntingly lush results. From
the Cello intro to By
the Time You Hear This, the
rip-roaring blast Trail
of Light, to the almost
electronica feel of Forever
in a Day, each song maintains
Vince's fantastic sense of melody and
outright stellar songwriting. He throws in
some vocals (which are a nice surprise),
and yet again in perfect unison with his
backline the end result is impressive.
And now to the really, really good
stuff.
Nothing True,
a clean, beautiful song starts out with an
intro that is simply gorgeous and drops
into a haunting, reverb-laden twist of a
track that's part heartbreaking and part
uplifting. Moving on to At
Peace, Vince again delivers a
crisp, light and airy clean instrumental
that is, quite frankly, beautiful. It
shades of hope, light, peace and sadness
all in one breath and it's a total earful
without ever becoming overcomplicated.
This all leads into, in my opinion, the
best track on the album - Greater
Day. Here, all of Vince's
strong points come together in what sounds
at first listen to be a relatively simple
song. The fact that he can mix up 4/4, 6/8
and harmonize in 11/8 without ever losing
the feel of the song is something that a
lot of the more well-known "prog"
guys even fuck up from time to time. The
ability to mix complex songwriting into a
very accessible tune is Vince LuPone's
trademark. It takes several listens to
realize just what he's doing on almost
every track, and it's downright impressive
the more you listen to it.
All in all this is one hell of a first
release. Self written, produced and
engineered, it's impossible to not only
enjoy the shit out of Screaming
into the Abyss, but be straight
out impressed at Vince's all around
musicianship, sense of melody and time and
the glaring obvious: This is an album that
he cared a TON about and had a great time
playing. There's a great nod to Joe
Satriani (Song
for Joe) as well, and with a
listen to the rest of the album you can
hear the monstrous range of influences
evident throughout it.
This isn't leaving my CD player for quite
some time. As far as Screaming into the
Abyss's title track - I'll leave it up to
you to judge for yourself. You won't be
disappointed.
- Chris
/ Sevenstring.org
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| Louis Schanz on
ASFN.com:
|
Screaming
into the Abyss
G3 within a few years should add on Phoenix, AZ, guitar virtuoso, Vince LuPone to the bill. On his debut solo release "Screaming Into The Abyss", LuPone proves that he can emerge center stage from behind the "Cast of Shadows" and make a lasting impact. Not only is LuPone gifted/fluid on guitar, but he exhibits versatility all throughout the c.d. with his well-crafted use of the cello, piano, bass, and propulsive drumming.
The album gets off to a rousing start with "Spirits Rise" which is punctuated with LuPone's proficient use of the double bass which is reminiscent to Fear Factory's Raymond Herrara. The following song "Lay't Down" is a complete blitzkrieg thrashing metal assault. When LuPone is not conveying the essence of his soul with his emotionally wrenching electric/acoustic guitar playing, he manages to do so with his multi-dimensional vocal delivery. “By The Time You Hear This” he exposes his very passionate/melancholy side, especially with those very compelling lyrics and elaborately done changes complete with his poignant use of the cello. “Forever In A Day” has a rather “cosmic feel” in the beginning and then evolves in a “haunting” song complete with Lupone’s shimmering vocal delivery. The “stand-out” to me is “Song For Joe” which his very own ode to his personal icon, Joe Satriani that would even cause “Satch” to 2nd guess how he recorded “Summer Song” with his explosive “tour-de-force” of multi-layered guitar..
The album elicits a myriad of moods consisting of enchantment, triumph, energy, and sophistication. Not only does LuPone excel as a musician, but his crisp production work ranks up there with the most seasoned of producers. LuPone’s well versed repertoire creates a superior landscape that would cause each listener to yearn for more, and I for one cannot wait to see what his future holds. True, he might be included on the G3 tour within the near future, in fact I believe he is worth the price of admission alone. |
| Daniel
Halberg interviewing Vince on GuitarGearHeads.com:
|
GuitarGearHeads
- Artist Spotlight
Vince LuPone "Screaming Into the Abyss"
Welcome to the GuitarGearHeads artist spotlight.
We decided to start this section to periodically
highlight bands and individual artists who
frequent the GGH community. This gives us a
wonderful chance to highlight great new music
direct from our members.
Recently we had an opportunity to interview an up
and coming guitar legend, Vince Lupone! I actually
invited Vince to drop on by the GGH website not
too long ago. Luckily for us he has elected to
keep us posted on the progress of his album.
I received an advance copy Vince's debut album,
titled "Screaming Into the Abyss" a
couple of weeks ago. I must admit - it was good
enough to take up a permanent slot in the cd
changer in my car. It is one of the best
"windshield" albums I've heard in a long
time. Every time the disc spins up, I find myself
entranced by Vince's fluidity and artful
composition. This album truly represents some of
the best guitar work I've heard in a long time.
I was so impressed, I decided to drop Vince a few
interview questions.
1. You are definitely an instrumental virtuoso.
How does writing an instrumental song differ from
writing a song that is more lyrical?
Instrumental songs aren’t too much different
than vocal songs. With a vocal song, most of the
time the guitarist just has to come up with a few
riffs, or a few chord changes, and your part is
basically done. I played in bands for a number of
years, and we did some pretty complex music, but
the instrumental stuff is definitely the most
challenging music I’ve ever had to play. The
lead guitar can’t just repeat the melody over
again for the second verse, it has to be
completely different. The music must have a
natural ‘ebb and flow’ to it to keep the
listener’s attention, because there’s no voice
to identify with, no vocal hook, and there are no
words to sing along to. The instrument becomes
your voice, and you have to keep the listener
actively involved. The song structure basically
stays the same, but there are more moving parts
and a whole lot more stress on your playing.
2. Those guitar sounds on your album are really
thick and heavy. Obviously, you are using that
7-string to great effect. What else are you doing
to make those huge sounds?
I love 7-string guitars. They’re got a very
natural feel to me. I’m kinda glad the whole
7-string guitar fad is over, to be honest, because
it makes players like myself more unique. As for
style, technique, those kinds of things… I
started out playing old-school thrash in my
bedroom as a teenager. The James Hetfield / Scott
Ian rhythm guitar style is really the basis of my
rhythm guitar playing. It’s all in the palm mute
and how you hit and fret the strings.
3. You knew this question was coming. What is
your favorite gear? Do you use different gear when
recording as opposed to your live performance?
I don’t think I really have a favorite piece of
gear. Well, I guess the thing that’s stayed with
me the longest is my preamp. I’ve been playing
an old Rocktron Chameleon preamp since about
’97. I think that model really suffered in
stores because people seem to just want to plug
into an amp and go, and this unit really required
you to sit down and understand EQ before you could
get a really good sound.
I use slightly different gear when I play live. In
the studio, I went direct for everything. Live, I
play through an amp and speakers, so it’s
different. The rack is basically the same, just
with a few tweaks to different sounds to make them
sound better live. So while I don’t use
different gear live, really, I do use different
sounds and effects.
4. We know you are still in the process of
shopping your new demo, but what advice can you
give to young musicians trying to make a name for
themselves?
Just promote yourself. Get out in the clubs,
network, make phone calls, office visits, get to
know people. Drop the ego, because no one’s
coming to you to buy or promote your album, you
have to go seek out them.
5. A lot of beginners will look at your work
and say "Man, I'll never be that good!"
Can you give some advice on how you built up your
chops to the level you are at?
Thanks for the compliment. I’d say to not just
listen to music that’s catchy or has a cool
guitar player, but really seek out music that
inspires you. There’s a lot of musicians I
listen to that are nowhere near my style, but I
can find a lot of inspiration in their music. Take
Stanley Jordan, for example. I’ll probably never
be able to play guitar in the unique 2-handed way
he does, but his absolute mastery of the
instrument and his ability to channel himself
through the guitar… I think that’s what every
true musician aspires to. When you're inspired,
you'll be surprised what you're capable of. |
| Strutter'zine:
|
VINCE LUPONE ‘SCREAMING INTO THE ABYSS’
Here’s yet another quality CD from someone who
does everything on his own. VINCE LUPONE comes out
of Arizona/USA and the first track of his CD
‘Screaming into the abyss’ hits like a hammer,
because this is fantastic hard hitting midtempo
melodic progressive metal, with beautiful guitar
melodies in the classic VAI/SATRIANI/PETRUCCI
ranks. The only thing that might put some people
off here is the drum programming, which makes it
sound a bit modern a la MARILYN MANSON, but
because it’s instrumental and the fact that
Vince can especially the guitar very well, this is
another must-have CD for anyone into instrumental
progressive metal. Most of the tracks move on in
the same style, so from start to finish this is a
quality CD, with once again the mention of Vince
being his best as the guitarist, although he also
plays bass and keys.
This is the way how real metal with real
guitars should sound instead of all the Nu-Metal
crap that nowadays comes out of the USA. Vince is
a very talented man, and his CD is
much-recommended to the fans of real music.
Check it out for yourself at: http://www.VinceLuPone.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
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Individual
Song Reviews:
| jUnkFunKiO
from Rome, Georgia on garageband.com:
|
Death
Rockin Your Nuts Off
Back the fuck up. Thats what this says to the
listener. It's crazy, kind of progressive rock,
kind of metal, kind of 80's power ballad. The
important thing here is that its unique. Not
completely original, but definitely pulled off in
terms of production and performance. The lead
guitars sound is excellent, nice use of effects
there, and the rhythm guitar work is solid and
needs no change. To be honest, i cant say that ive
heard someone with the same sound, because the
incorportating of different sounds is so apparent
here, but the sound is rockin' and thats what its
all about. |
| Dross
on
soundclick.com:
|
Vince LuPone - Trail of Light
This is another one of those high power, well played guitar instrumentals that people keep giving me to review. The percussion here stands out as a lot better than many of the tracks of this sort I've reviewed before, and while I'll say that overall I'm not a huge fan of instrumentals this one seems to work. The guitar is well played, and there are more modern metal influences here than in a lot of the tracks like this I've seen on this site. This guy is a particularly talented musician. The music is something fairly new in sense of what gets radio play, but self-produced guitar instrumentals seem to be pretty common here on Soundclick. Anyway, this is worth a listen if you're into this kind of thing. The lead guitar is definately the
highlight. |
| Sound_Proof
on garageband.com:
|
Loud
with an amazing sound.
+
The mix on this is amazing (how did you get it so
clean and loud?)
Love the effects on the guitars (what sound
equipment did you use?)
The double pedal on the drums is tight and mixed
well so as not to over power the song.
The best parts of the songs are where the guitars
are most prevalent.
-
Nothing bad to say; five stars most def. |
| jogga13amp
on garageband.com:
|
Raaaaawwwwwwwwwkkkkkkkk!
This is fast and heavy. The sound is decent,the
mix is clear, lead guitar is good and clear and
playing something quite interesting (goes a bit
stryper but there you go!) Kept me listening
though. I could see it sound tracking a trip to
the moon! |
| Andy
Skinner on soundclick.com:
|
Now
this stuff is truly great. It`s pretty much as
Vince describes it, kind of heavy industrial rock,
with a good level of guitar virtuosity. What sets
this apart from the stuff that Vai, or Satch might
come out with though is that the song is actually
pretty cool with various hooks and some cool
guitar grooves.
I must give note to the production on these tracks
too as it is outstanding.
The ony bit I didn`t like too much is the vocals,
I think if you teamed up with a cool melodic, but
harsh vocalist you could have a superb sound. I
would buy your album.
I also checked out your other tracks, I
particularly like Spirts Rise with it`s heavy
riffs and grooves and slinky lead guitar work. I
kind of reminded me a bit of what Soilwork do,
specially with the double bass drums and great
melodic lead, however Vince does this on his OWN.
I also really like the drop in that comes in at
around 3 minutes, bad ass stuff.
Are these live drums or a machine, by the double
bass drumming I`m guessing machine. That sound
cool anyways!
Very well done Vince. |
Want to submit a review of Screaming into the Abyss to
VinceLuPone.com? Write up what you've got and send it to reviews@vincelupone.com
|