At first glance at the artwork for James Williams’ Electric Shred I didn’t know what I was in for. My first thought, low production, possibly a garage recorded album. I had my worries. Those worries were quickly put to rest as soon as track one began to play.

As the title suggests, this album is a monstrous example of guitar shredding. Drums, bass, even the one track with Gregorian Chant isn’t much when compared to the raw awesome sound of Williams and his guitar as his fingers flip acrobatically through his compositions. What’s amazing to me is that I’ve heard a lot of guitar based artists and bands. They try so hard to sound complex but usually end up biting off more then they can chew, leaving too much guitar allowing a higher degree of failure. Mind you most of these artists or bands incorporate a shared world with vocals from either themselves or guest singers. That or they are a complete band with guitar as a focus but still leave room for drum solo’s, bass solo’s and what have you. Electric Shred is perfectly Williams and his guitar filling the void.

My first go with the album I was blown away, but spent a majority of the time thinking “It’s going to start sounding bad any second now.” I’m used to guitarists hanging themselves with too much flash. Williams fly’s across the notes as if he was born with them in mind and has perfecting them his whole life. Throughout it all the guitar work is smooth, complex, melodious, and never a flaw in the mix. It’s simply complete guitar work from someone who knows what he’s doing and what he wants to do. You’d do well to check it out.