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High Bias
August, 2001
It's hard to find a record these days that's straight fusion, not some variation with pop or funk overtones and guest singers. It's even harder to find one that's good. Fortunately, the third album from guitarist Scott McGill is both. McGill, along with drummer Vic Stevens and monster bassist Michael Manring, proffers nothing less than 14 tracks of burning progressive jazz rock. The arrangements are complex, the melodies jazz-derived and the energy pure rock. McGill's finger-stretching riffs and Manring's hyperactive fretless licks coalesce into a glistening spider web of sound, just barely grounded by Stevens' kit work. Guest Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater adds some tinkling of the plastics on a few tracks, but it's McGill and Manring's show. The band's high-energy, high-density approach makes for a challenging listen and, stretched over 70 minutes, an exhausting one as well. Taken in small doses however, Addition By Subtraction is damned impressive.
Review by Michael Toland
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