2ND HANDS

2nd Hands is the debut album from The Gourishankar or actually the second album, but The Grip which was their first album was not released internationally when it was released in 2003. The Grip has seen a proper release in 2008 though. A bit confusing but if you know The Grip then this album is a natural continuation of the style The Gourishankar initiated on that album.

The music that The Gourishankar plays is a bit hard to explain as they draw influences from many sources. A bit of Rush and a bit of Dream Theater mixed with all sorts of music styles is not far of though. This album is really an exercise in how many different riffs and ideas you can put into one song. From a technical perspective it´s a really impressive album, but strip aside the technical gymnastics and you have some songs that lacks a lot in substance. This is music I have to be in the right mood to enjoy. Most of the time when I listen to this music I´m annoyed that they shift moods and style so often that I never really get a grip of what the song is about. It´s like listening to Dream Theater´s Erotomania ( Which by the way is an excellent song) for the duration of a how album. A bit too much if you ask me. They are a really impressive band so if they could get a bit more structure into their songs this would be great music. As it is now I´m intriguied but not really happy.

The musicianship is astonishing to say the least. It seems like The Gourishankar masters all playing styles both when it comes to playing and composing. Lead vocalist Vlad MJ Whiner has a voice that reminds me of Geddy Lee from Rush but The Gourishankar´s music is much more complicated than anything Rush has ever made.

The production is a bit lame. Something is missing to give it punch but it´s allright and not too bad.

As mentioned already I feel The Gourishankar takes their mouths too full. Even though the music is very melodic it´s not especially memorable because of the far too many shifts in mood and style. I´m not surprised that this album gets both 4 and 5 star ratings as it is impressive but this is just not my cup of tea I´ll still rate it 3 stars though for the astonishin musicianship and the many great ideas. I just hope that their next album will be a bit more focused and song oriented ( not too much of course). I don´t know why but I prefer THe Grip to 2nd Hands. Maybe it´s because it´s not as busy as this one.