HIGHLANDS MAGAZINE N°118
Pittsburgh native Dallas Perkins is a guitarist-composer-producer who released his first album LOOKING GLASS in 1988. Over the decades he composed a personalized declaration of his love for music which has culminated in his latest album of [2022] EXPERIMENTAL TRUTH, 36:12, nine tracks.
Dallas Perkins was also an in-demand instructor at Musician's Institute, the famous music school in Hollywood, and the National Guitar Summer Workshop. Perkins cites his six-string inspirations as Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Howe and Ritchie Blackmore [to name a few].
EXPERIMENTAL TRUTH seamlessly melds a set of strings that are severe, free, serious, heavy, soft metal, and at quick tempos. Elegant phrasing, beautiful articulations, a hard sound recording, but the beauty of the program makes you forget that. With an album steeped in melody and harmonic complexity, and with the simplicity of his agile playing, he proposes a coherent theme uniting the nine titles in one panoramic canvas, abundant in imagination.
Opener Beck Street 5:25, starts with an energetic drum intro, his guitar sounds Van Halenien. Dallas Perkins runs with his orchestra, in mad virtuosity.
Deus XM 1:59, a guitar solo, a fusion of fire à la Eddie Van Halen joined with Joe Satriani.
Dynamic Equilibrium 4:24, the temperature rises on a tune bursting with strings and drumsticks, triggering cold sweats, one thinks of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.
Mexican Puppets 4:41, with an intro fast and confusing for launching into the progressive title, hard, powerful, lively, such as the rhythm section playing in the middle of weird, ethereal voices.
Monolith 1:45, metal introduction leading into Intermeshing Spectra 6:18, backlashes, electric ricochets, voluminous Prog-Rock breaks with nuances of quivering percussion, wriggling bass, a great complete clashing in a musical trio of gifted, expert form.
Azul 2:08, a poetic velvety softness in search of sounds in a psychedelic tableau, playful, soaring, as progressive as desired. A curiosity of stratospheric composition with drum rolls repeated, raspy string attacks, refined nuances flattering the senses, malice, verve, a masterpiece.
In Via Domum 2:42, magical acoustic guitar solo that Steve Howe would understand. Dallas Perkins channels and flies away with him in this ethereal score. His fingers barely caressing the strings, the tones produced with taste, his feet no longer touching the ground.
Jagwired 6:51, what an exquisite sound from this energetic orchestra, the Rock-Prog-Soft Metal fusions mix together, blend in an alliance of surprising solemnity with infinite riches of nuances.
(***3⁄4) Marie Mesmer
Translated from French by A L Anzalone | Visit: highlands.fanzine.free.fr
