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Lion Music proudly announces the release of TOMMY ERMOLLI’s debut solo album entitled “Step Ahead” on October 6th. Tommy Ermolli is a guitarist who wows all those that hear him. Still only at the age of 21 the Twinspirits and Khymera guitarist has crafted a solo album of his own set for release on October 6th through Lion Music.

“Step Ahead” shows Ermolli deliver 9 tracks predominantly in a rock setting showing both his melodic and virtuosic guitar styles. These tracks are mirrored with a couple of softer numbers for good measure. All of which showcase Tommy’s guitar and compositional skill with strong production values.

Aided by his Twinspirits band colleagues Daniele Liverani (keyboards), Dario Ciccioni (Drums and percussion) and Alberto Rigoni (Bass on Joy of Illusion, Enlightening Darkness, Renewed, Magic) the sound on “Step Ahead” is a very accessible guitar album, aided by the strong melodies and interesting compositions. Among his influences Tommy counts Joe Satriani, Andy Timmons, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci. Whilst traces of these players can be heard in a few tracks, there is also an original style at play, something which is also apparent in Tommy’s band works

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REVIEWS:

2009 Lion Music

Fluid melodic playing is what it's all about on Step Ahead, for the Twinspirits and Khymera axeman takes a 'step away' from the neo-classical and full-on metal shredding to execute a more straight forward tuneful approach. Mixing Daryl Stuermer, with David Gilmour, alongside Jeff Beck's There and Back with a 'west coast' vibe shifting through moments of both heavy, crunch laden passages and AOR sensibility; Tommy Ermolli's delivery is smooth and intricate across the six strings.

He plays out the more forceful hard rock attitude with tunes such as "Endless Space," "Taking Control," and "Arrival;" while easing things down a bit on the acoustic "Magic," the plectonic lead driven title track, and the more emotive metallic edge on both "Renewed" & "Joy of Illusion" - where the melody is always at the forefront, and of course, you do have the shred factor present to spark up this collection of highly sophisticated songs.

Along with him on the record is keyboardist Daniele Liverani, bassist Alberto Rigoni, & drummer Dario Ciccioni - all from Twinspirits lending their musical might here and there. Step Ahead is a record that is focused, filled with gliding tunes that spark intriguing catchiness with the hook laden riffs and melodic entity that is fulfilled - nothing gets too chaotic nor too aggressive, yet the music retains the perfect amounts of heaviness & technical elements to make the record the powerhouse that it is.

CLICK HERE to read a review of Twinspirits' The Forbidden City

Added: October 4th 2009
Reviewer: Tommy Hash
Score:
Related Link: Tommy Ermolli link
www.ytsejam.com

Official website

Lion Music

Endless Space
Joy Of Illusion
Step Ahead
Enlightening Darkness
Renewed
Magic
Taking Control
Virtual Redefinition
Arrival

Tommy Ermolli - Guitars, Bass
Daniele Liverani - Keyboards
Dario Ciccioni - Drums, Percussions
Alberto Rigoni – Bass

Tommy Ermolli is an Italian guitarist who plays in several different bands such as TWINSPIRITS and KHYMERA. The latter band features Dennis Ward of PINK CREAM 69 fame. This is his first solo album.

This is no album full of shredding and self-indulgence. Ermolli takes the time to actually craft songs. There is very little in the way of Heavy Metal; this is much more along the lines of Rock and its various similar genres like blues, acoustic music and even a bit of jazz. The fact that there is very little Metal to be found is not necessarily a bad thing, just something to be aware of so that proper expectations can be formed prior to listening to the album.

While there is no shredding, there is a decent amount of great, soulful playing, which never gets in the way of the songs as a whole. As mentioned, there are several different styles present throughout the songs and all are played professionally. While there was nothing on here that blew me away, I found myself enjoying listening to this album pretty much all the way through. I really enjoy the guitar playing, too, which is obviously important for a release in this genre.

People that do not enjoy guitar albums should probably avoid this one, but even mild fans of the genre (such as me) should perhaps give this one a chance.