The art of six-stringer shredding has unquestionably come back to forefront in modern day hard rock and heavy metal music. And talented guitarist Lou DiBello will soon be leaving his own mark on the genre, with the release of his album, ‘Heat Wave.’ The album features input from current or former members of Manowar (guitarist Ross “The Boss” Friedman) and Symphony X (bassist Mike Lepond), and is chockfull of headbanging rockers and six-string showcases, especially the tune “Full Throttle,” which can be sampled here:
"Heat Wave is my 4th solo release and by far my best effort to date,” explains DiBello. “The fact that I worked with such a great group of people was key, most notably singer Carsten Schulz, bassist Mike LePond, and legendary guitarist Ross ‘The Boss’ Friedman. It was a real honor to have Ross play dueling leads and harmonies with me on the epic track ‘Blood on the Cross,’ and he gave me valuable advice along the way as well. The record is a nice blend of hard rock/metal with vocals as well as instrumental tracks with a real emphasis on good songs with great guitar playing, as opposed to just great guitar playing. All out rocker ‘Let Me Hear You Scream - Rock & Roll!,’ as well as instrumental tracks ‘Full Throttle’ and my take on the Michael Schenker classic ‘Into the Arena’ are a few of the highlights.”
DiBello - who is an honors graduate from Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, California - has been a veteran of the Central Illinois music scene since the late ‘80s. Additionally, he has played over 2,500 paid performances, 600 in last 5 years alone, plus countless opening slots for acts like .38 Special, Slaughter, LA Guns, Molly Hatchet, Foghat, Quiet Riot, Survivor, Black Crowes, Blue Oyster Cult, and more. As an instructor, DiBello has given over 25,000 private lessons, and started one of the first streaming guitar lesson websites."
The guitarist also feels he has a lot to offer in the areas of instruction and collaboration with other artists, as he is a flexible player in a range of styles and enjoys playing in many different settings. Also, he is looking to place his music for licensing for TV and film.
“I love playing guitar! I am blessed to continue to pursue my passion and I am looking forward to further successes in this ongoing journey.”
Line-Up for ‘Heat Wave’:
Lou DiBello - Lead and rhythm guitars, bass guitar
Carsten Schulz - Vocals
Bobby Whiles - Drums
Mike LePond (Symphony X) - Bass guitar (Blood On The Cross/Drop Deadly/Into The Arena)
Ross "The Boss” Friedman (Dictators, Manowar) - Lead guitar (Blood On The Cross)
Dead End Heroes features a couple of very busy guys – vocalist Carsten Lizard Schulz and bassist Paul Logue. Producer and guitarist Rolf Munkes is a busy lad too, so it's cool to see these guys on a project together.
The very impressive and loud rhythm section also features drummer Daniel Voegeli.
Holger Seeger adds some classic Hammond Organ for that old school hard rock sound.
Without trying to over simplify the songwriting involved here – this is a very straight ahead hard rocking album.
The performances are quite electric – there's clearly a lot of effort put into capturing the guys at their collective best here, best evidenced by the cage rattling hard rocker the band takes their name from.
This is a very consistent sounding album – it's one track after another of European blend hard hitting classic melodic metal/hard rock.
I'm not into the lead track Roadkill that much, but the heavy Blue Murder/organ drenched style Cry For The Moon is all class as is the bold epic 7 minute metaller Stormfront.
Hands Off The Wheel rocks along at a good pace and the song And The Loser Is, is as catchy as anything on the album.
The Fire's Worth The Loneliness is another stand out.
There's a certain sameness to some songs, but the big winners here are fans of in your face hard rock with guitars thrust firmly to the front of the mix.
I can hear some Eden's Curse in the rhythm and the harmony vocals, but also latter day Jaded Heart.
A quality release for fans of European hard rock. Maybe a touch too long at nearly an hour in length.
