Chris Manning
Chris Manning - Forever November (Bombworks) 2003
1. "Echoes of Time"
(2:38)
2. "Iceland" (7:10)
3. "Forever November" (2:46)
4. "Salutations" (4:14)
5. "Stratosphere" (6:24)
6. "Crystallize" (3:43)
7. "Where Angels Sing" (1:54)
8. "Song for Carol" (5:05)
9. "Subsonic" (3:01)
10. "Jade's Song" (1:49)
Every once in a while I discover some wonderful music that I truly enjoy that is not metal. The odd thing about this is that I usually discover these releases due to their connection to some other metal band I like. In the case of Chris Manning, he use to play guitar in Faithbomb and this disc is on current Faithbomb vocalist Rob Colwell's record label. However, unlike his former band, "Forever Novermber" is not even remotely heavy metal. This is music to kick back and unwind to, not music to thrash to. Since owning this CD I have thrown this disc on late at night as I lay in bed and relax. The 10 tracks on this CD evoke an emotion that is hard to put into words. Whereas many guitar instrumental albums are more aimed to shredding guitar solos and shinging the talent of the artist's lead playing, Chris focuses on pure emotion. Only on discs by Phil Keaggy and a rare few other instrumental guitar albums have I found such emotion to the playing and to the songs. That is not to say that this album is some new age sounding space music. Actually several of the songs have a nice, crunchy guitar tone. Again, however, the intent here is not to rock, but to put forth a somber, even melancholy mood. This Chris does a fine job of. With that, sit back, close your eyes, get comfortable and enjoy one fine instrumetal album.