Elmo Karjalainen’s new record, “Age of Heroes” is a record for anyone who enjoys instrumental guitar music. You can hear Elmo’s influences of Vai, Malmsteen, Satriani and others in his playing. Aside from excellent playing, Elmo uses his sense of humor on his record. Pick up a copy of his record at https://elmojk.bandcamp.com/ –Andrew Catania
Critically acclaimed Finnish guitarist Elmo Karjalainen is set to release his new record, entitled “Age of Heroes”. The album features 15 new original songs featuring Elmo’s unique style of playing in various genres. The album also features guest appearances from keyboard legend Derek Sherinian, whose CV reads like a who’s who of rock and metal, guitarist extraordinaire Mattias IA Eklundh, and the winners of Yngwie Malmsteen’s Guitar Gods competition, Janne Nieminen, and Emil Pohjalainen.
“It’s unashamed shreddy guitar playing, but it’s at times funny, playful and weird, but it’s always played with feeling. To emphasize feeling not much editing was done, and there are quite a few mistakes on the record. Personally, I’m drawn more towards players who play with passion, players who move me, rather than to people who sound like sequencers”, says Elmo.
Track list:
1. Warm Welcome 2. How Can Less Be More 3. The Colour of Greed 4. Chikken Noodul 5. A Fertile Discussion 6. The Grassy Gnoll 7. Blue Eyes 8. Party Political Speech 9. Age of Heroes 10. A Meeting of the Gods (And This Guy) 11. Sunset 12. Return of the Silly English Person 13. Falling for Falafels 14. Lost In a Foreign Scale 15. Three Days of Peace 16. Limiting Rationality 17. Breathe
Two of the tracks on the album are spoken interludes and don’t really count as songs.
“Age of Heroes” features Elmo’s unique playing, which has been compared by people to everyone from Steve Vai to Jeff Beck, both of whom Elmo cites as major influences. He also aims to raise a few smiles with a bit of humor here and there, so this is not just an album of shred played with a serious face.
Elmo Karjalainen is a Finnish guitar player who plays in such bands as Kilpi, Conquest, Seagrave and Helena & Kalevi. He has also released two critically acclaimed instrumental album under his own name, called “Unintelligent Designs” and “The Free Guitar Album”, and an instrumental digital EP, called “Unintelligent Leftovers”. In addition to this, he has released an acoustic album, called “Where We Belong”. Elmo has won the 2015 Finnish “Tilu & Lilu” shred championship and finished as a runner-up in Yngwie Malmsteen’s Guitar Gods competition and as a runner-up in Lee Ritenour’s Six String Theory competition.
Links:
elmojk@elmojk.com