✦✦✧✧ After shocking us with the unreasonably good album “Inferno”, Marty returns to form and satisfies every preconception; this is about as good as it gets for self-indulgent lead guitarist wankery. Largely, this is a problem of balance (a tricky thing to nail). There are sporadic moments of red-blooded metal mayhem strewn about, but they’re tempered too often by cheese.

★★★☆ This is a bizarrely great, or greatly bizarre, album. To write it off as a lead guitarist’s solo wankfest is premature and a disservice. If anything, it’s more a showcase of Marty’s omnivorous tendencies, as he deftly through the many styles of his long and storied career. Through it all, there’s sick guitarwork of course… but to focus on that would be to miss the equally deft hand that Marty uses in his arrangements.