Keyboardist Derek Sherinian has gathered most of his acclaim from his stint with Dream Theater in the mid-90s, but he had also been a touring musician with both Kiss and Alice Cooper prior to the DT gig. Since parting ways with the Prog giants, Sherinian has released a number of "solo" efforts, each one dotted with a fine selection of guests -- mostly in the guitar-god realm. In fact, his solo releases play more like guitar CDs, in fact, as the keys are simply an added effect to most of the songs. In this respect it is easy to admire Sherinian as a songwriter, as he shows his talents to compose music not just for his own specialized instrument, but for all that make up the heavy metal sound.
Stepping into the studio to lend their axe talents include such names as Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, Al DiMeola, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Billy Sheehan shows up on bass, and both Simon Phillips and Brian Tichy appear behind the drumkit. The multi-segmented "Sons of Anu" shifts from tooling leads to heavy chops, and both "Starcycle" and "Axis of Evil" have their strong parts. Some dark grinding highlights "Nightmare Cinema" -- beware the mid-track wrecking ball that lurks within! The disc-closing title track is pure dripping attitude, with its nasty kick-in bringing an evil grin to all.

TRACK LIST: The Fury/The Sons of Anu/Nightmare Cinema/Stony Days/Starcycle/Axis of Evil/Gypsy Moth/Sweet Lament/Black Utopia