MARK WOOD-Turbow

Viper Nation

I love the title of this CD! It matches the music and instrument just perfectly.
Mark Wood reports back with his violin escapades that are more metal than most shred head guitar albums nowadays. `Turbow’ represents Wood’s classical trained violin skills over metal music and links both together just perfectly. The opening ,,Fire ‘n Ice’’ is powerful and stoked with great musical interaction. Drums are powerful and the tension build by the Woods violin is tremendous. Neo-classical elements combined with a gorgeous symphonic melody lines and impressive hooks. The interaction between Wood’s violin strokes and Steve Costello and Jon Bivona’s guitar licks are outstanding and pleasant. Lord Of The Dance injected with a metallic shot of speed. It’s this high standard and enthusiasm Wood and his band maintains throughout the album. ,,Attitude Adjustments’’ starts off slow but picks up pace and unleashes an impressive violin riff over which Laura Kay shines with sublime vocals. It is exactly what Mark Wood’s music gives the depth it needs. Even though it is the only vocal track on this CD and it comes by a bit soon, it is an excellent Ayreon’ish colourful composition with lavish drumming and colourful piano swirls. When the pace goes up and Wood shreds away at full speed he manages to surprise me even more. ,,Inferno’’ with its staccato notes and classical scales is impressive but it‘s ,,Wood’s Bolero’’ that really tickles the senses. Not in any way reminiscent to Ravel’s ,,Bolero’’ the song shoots away with some interesting melodies and gets heated with a flamenco section to return to form, while chants to boost the atmosphere. It’s not just a showcase for Wood’s skills as a player, but also an outing of his skills as a songwriter. Any of the tunes could easily be featured as a soundtrack to a movie. Check out ,,Fan To The Flames’’, which touches all corners musically and again leans on Wood’s astonishing feeling for tempo. Midway industrial keyboard noise disrupts the song to return with Vai-like playing and psychotic slightly musical patterns. Elijah Wood skill fully handles sticks and makes the track work progressively. The title track is Wood’s showcase of skills on his 7-string custom Viper but in terms of composition it isn’t flying as high as the rest on `Turbow’. ,,LuminoCity’’ is movielike and pleasant and ,,Labour Of Love’’ closes the album in style. `Turbow’ mark’s the return of Mark Wood and showcases his amazing skills on the violin. The album is not only a great listen for fans of the instrument but given the rocking background and the music presented on `Turbow’ it extends its reach. Mr. Wood certainly deserves it with this artistic piece of work.