Anand plays well executed guitar oriented progressive rock that borders on prog-metal. This is without a doubt a guitar album, and Anand is the star of the show. This guy shreds. I suppose that this is mainly from the school of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and other virtuosic solo players, though I'm not overly familiar with them. Basically, every track is a guitar solo, generally very melodic, with the rest of the group serving a back-up role. I suppose this is good for what it is, but it's really not a style that I'm particularly familiar with, or fond of. The album has an extremely slick production, is all instrumental, and everything serves to highlight Anand's soaring guitar melodies.
Unfortunately, to me most of these songs sound rather similar, without offering too much individually. Most of the songs feature some all-out shredding behind some metallic riffage, but don't often veer into the overly bombastic territory of straight prog metal. Songs like "Mysterious Ways" have some extraordinary dynamics, as does the rather beautiful "Far Away", while "What's on a Man's Mind" introduces a funkier vibe. Of the "proggier" tunes, "Midnight Chaser" definitely sticks out, with a nice intertwined guitar rhythm and some great harmonic tapping. Overall, I think those that would get the most out of this are fans that are particularly into guitar technique, or into Satriani and Vai and that sort of thing. I find it pretty cliched myself, and not particularly complex aside from the guitar playing, but there definitely is an audience for this, and you know who you are.

Greg Northrup