Dan Patlansky

Dan Patlansky is one of the hardest playing guitar slingers in the world at the moment and the album opens with a suitably massive power-blast in ‘Soul Parasite’.
A massive drum beat is followed by an equally huge riff before Patlansky’s throaty vocals drag the listener in. It is all breathless and exciting - exactly what we have come to expect of the South African.

‘Snake Oil City’ is fast and jazzy, opening with a fine solo and continuing with a slightly lighter feel.

He has been away for a couple of years and the intervening time definitely feels as though he has been developing both his songwriting and his guitar chops. His guitar playing has even more fluidity than the last time I heard him and his soloing is quite superb – long, complex runs that will have the air guitar merchants up off their seats and hammering the cricket bats.
But it is probably the improvement in his songwriting that is most obvious. Above the riffs on tracks like ‘Selfish Lover’ there is melody and there is a danceable edge to his new songs that really works on multiple levels.

He can do ballads too: ‘Lost’ is a soul challenging, slow number with a gorgeous organ sound, his voice much softer and showing an unexpected tunefulness. Again, there is a beautiful solo to go with it. Of course, that is followed by ‘Bad Soul’ and we are back with a monster riff and hard sound.

The whole album smacks of someone who has been able to really focus on writing songs and honing their skills and it is probably his best album yet.
The best track on the album is probably the title track – which also closes the album – dark, intense and from deep down in his soul and with a chilling solo too.

Adult themes, new found rhythms and forms and his best playing for ages.
It really is a triumph and deserves to be up there in the charts.