{"id":30563,"date":"2013-06-30T07:18:33","date_gmt":"2013-06-30T12:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=30563"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:36:15","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:36:15","slug":"mark-claytor-uprising-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/mark-claytor-uprising-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Claytor | Uprising<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Matt Karpe<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Uprising\"The first impression you get upon hearing Mark Claytor is \u201cWow, that guy can sure play a guitar,\u201d and that impression becomes confirmation after hearing Uprising<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Thirteen instrumental songs stretched over forty minutes show the skill Claytor has when his fingers touch a six string. There is good variation on show, with hard rock, classic rock, funk, blues and the occasional piece of sleaze, all performed with intricacy and great technicality. <\/p>\n

\u201cMadness\u201d is a short intro with some hypnotizing moments as Mark\u2019s fingers work overtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cDistant and Deadly\u201d has some good hard rocking riffs, and also features fellow instrumentalist\u2019s Chris Bickley and Michael Geren, with Geren also returning to play bass on \u201cEminent Collision\u201d later on.<\/p>\n

\u201cTurning Point\u201d is quite bluesy and contains a fine solo, and \u201cPlum Crazy\u201d is dominated by a funky hook.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Magic Blues\u201d is the standout track. Just under five minutes of sheer quality that is full of blues and swagger; there are small similarities to Hendrix classic \u201cCrosstown Traffic\u201d with the guitar effects that Claytor is able to produce. The bass and drumming in the background accompanies the guitar shredding well, making this a joy to listen to as you hear the best of Mark Claytor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt Is What It Is\u201d is a slow paced funk-fest, and the remainder of the album plays out with more raunchy rocking riffs and superb solos.<\/p>\n

Mark Claytor is a fantastic guitarist, and he proves it on Uprising<\/em>. Each track is multi layered, but done so in such a way that the combination of instruments manages to avoid stepping on each other\u2019s toes, giving you a clear listen of all textures that are involved. The subtlety and technicality is also to be admired, and influences of already mentioned Hendrix, as well as Satriani, Vai and even Zakk Wylde are instantly recognizable. <\/p>\n

With artists like this, it\u2019s a shame that the wider audience might just see Mark Claytor slip under their radars. <\/p>\n

Some might say this album would sound better with some vocal displays, and maybe it is true in certain instances, but for a lover of guitar artistry, Uprising<\/em> is fine the way it is, and Mark Claytor\u2019s guitar is all you need to hear.<\/p>\n

Genre: Instrumental Rock<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tMadness
\n2.\tDistant and Deadly
\n3.\tGrooveStar Gravity
\n4.\tUprising
\n5.\tTurning Point
\n6.\tPlum Crazy
\n7.\tBegin Again
\n8.\tBlack Magic Blues
\n9.\tIt Is What It Is
\n10.\tGeoGraphic
\n11.\tEminent Collision
\n12.\tVengeance
\n13.\tAway From The Sun<\/p>\n

Label: Sumthinfierce<\/p>\n

Website: www.mcsologuitar.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matt Karpe – Columnist — The first impression you get upon hearing Mark Claytor is \u201cWow, that guy can sure play a guitar,\u201d and that impression becomes confirmation after hearing Uprising. Thirteen instrumental songs […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,5045,627,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-30563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd","9":"tag-chris-bickley","10":"tag-instrumental-rock","11":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}