The Guitar Player's Resource
My Crying Soul is the new modern shred CD from German guitarist Deven March. A veteran of a half-dozen bands, March decided to strike out on his own with his first solo album, playing guitar and most of the rest of the instruments throughout the fifteen cuts. Mostly instrumental, except for some street talk from a cyborg (?!) on "Cyborg", March favors a heavily overdriven guitar tone and a variety of modern lead techniques which enhance songs such as "Believe" and "Mad Monday". A few things keep the CD from being as good as it could be. One is the use of a drum machine, because for the most part the patterns are stock-sounding and very thin. Music this heavy deserves pounding, brutal drum work. The one track with live drums is "Believe", and the heaviness is assisted by the use of a real drummer. Also, March should probably hook up with an outside producer to assist him in getting the most heavy sound he can achieve for his compositions, one who can help him layer and spread the rhythm tracks and process the bass for maximum power and crunch. He should also eliminate the two-hand tapping, since, unless you can do something new with it, it doesn't add anythiing to the originality. This is a good first effort which March can learn from, and pour his knowledge into the next release.
Deven has been playing in various bands since 1992, including the metal group Demeneted (1992-94), the power metal outfit Inhuman Paradise (1993-96), the progressive metal band Firechild (1997-99), the female-fronted Melissa Wood (200), the hard rock group Curfew (2000-01) and an acoustic rock and blues project, Harlem Rain (2000-present). He also is a teacher at a local guitar school and also gives workshops at various music stores. HIs current focus is on his solo project and the My Crying Soul CD.
March plans to continue to devote himself to his passion - playing guitar - performing and recording whenever possible.
Deven March c/o Music-Management
Germany
Web site: www.devenmarch.com