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Victor Gann
Victor Gann Independent

by Matthew Hoffman
Staff Writer

Comments: Guitar heroes' releases come around once every few weeks but rarely do they feature a diversified acumen. Dallas Texas's Victor Gann is the exception to that rule. His only release so far is a clean and precise self titled five-song album. When you see that the record only has five songs you wonder why so few? After you hear these very well written and played tracks however you realize this was the perfect illustration of the Texas axe man's far reaching abilities.

Gann picked five distinctly different styles of guitar ranging from soft ballad focused metal to Southern fried Rock n' Roll. Each one he handled as well as any guitar head would want, and left the listener only wanting more.

Schooled at the famous Guitar Institute under the tutelage of some of the world's best gunslingers, Gann obviously paid close attention in class. His technique is crystal clean and accurate while lacking none of the necessary passion.

The first song starts out with the gas pedal being revved and then tires squeaking as a car rip away. A bit cheesy it seems for a brief second until Gann tears into a Satriani "Summer Song" styled ditty. He plays basic traditional metal heavy in melody with tight rhythms and a nice measured tone. About two minutes in he goes into overdrive with a hectic bi-polar solo piece that takes the discussion to another level. The key here is he never abandons the songs structure, just layers the lead over top of it as a dessert.

"Just another Day?" starts off with a basic metal rhythm and is pretty "vanilla" in its approach throughout. It shows a cool slightly heavier technique with a bit o' distortion and then four and a half minutes in he rips through a bluesy Rock n' Roll lead.

The third cut "Migraine S.O.S" and is played as a traditional metal tone, slightly muted, rich in melody and clean technique. At the end of the song Victor rips through some fast notes in a nice lead that picks up the blood pressure of the listener.

A peaceful serene ballad calms the listener down once again as Gann damn near cries through his six strings' on "Shannon with Child." Anyone that reads the title and has children will have their heart strings pulled as well. What a lovely song.

The final track "Not Now" is a distortion filled pedal pressing speedy ride down Guitar Hero Lane. Here Gann tears through a melody rich track with reckless abandon while never losing his tightness or attention to detail. More than half the song is a lead and it is very well played resembling Joe Sat's delivery once again.
Gann is currently working on a follow up album as this album was independently released in 2006.

All guitarheads should pick up this melody rich CD and see how it is supposed be done (there is a guitar world outside of shred).

Track Listing:
1. Four on the Floor
2. Just Another Day?
3. Migraine (S.O.S)
4. Shannon With Child
5. Not Now

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.1/10