Mixed Signals Review:

 

On his second album, Mixed Signals, Carm Grasso once again enlists a massive army of guitars to put the technical brilliance of his playing on display. But, just as vitally, the album as a whole showcases his impressive compositional and songwriting chops, leveraging the intricate arrangements of those many guitars to build a broad array of emotions, and capture the moments that fuel them.

 

While all instrumental, these pieces are clearly songs, the voices of his guitars intertwining to capture moods and tell stories. In fact, the whole album seems to tell a single  story, evident in the progression of themes in the titles of each piece, of a man confronting demons, internal and perhaps external, and rising from the darkness of that struggle to an inner peace. Much like those very real struggles in life, though, it’s not a straight line, darkness giving way to moments of light, those moments lost to regression and anger only to be re-captured through sheer strength of will, gaining in momentum and strength as the album progresses.

 

Phoenix Rising begins with a slow arpeggiation before launching into a pummeling riff, driven by heavy, metallic drums and eventually exploding with melodic guitar lines, multiple leads playing off each other - left, center and right - reminiscent of peak era Iron Maiden. Though Carm could clearly just shred for an entire song, or album, there is not a single gratuitous note, nothing over played, just each guitar doing its carefully composed part.  The beauty of the song - and the whole album, for that matter - is in listening to how each guitar, each channel, each back and forth, contributes its part to the musical narrative.

 

Clarity continues in this vein with a less pummeling riff, but sustaining the sense of menace as a foundation for the melodic interplay of multiple lead guitars shredding, flanging and wah-wahing in taut exchanges. These elements continue through Phases, but increasingly put to different use, the menace fading, the mood of the song brighter and more upbeat, an early indicator that Carm has more tricks up his sleeve than just unloading song after song of melodic hard rock.

 

That promise is realized on Ella Es Mia, where he drops the electric guitars altogether, switching to classical guitars and swapping searing metal for flamenco flourishes and crisp melodic runs on nylon strings.  Thematically, the song builds off the brighter mood of Phases,  exchanging moments of tension and relief, both driving and uplifting at once.

 

Following the growing emotional narrative, Inner Demon is appropriately titled as it shifts strikingly back into  the heavier guitars of the album’s opening, returning to a decidedly darker vibe, unleashing turmoil and anguish with sudden and raw intensity.

 

This shift sets up the dramatic back and forth that fuels the middle of the album. How Could You Hurt Me? returns immediately to the classical guitars introduced just two songs earlier, full of the sweet remorse and sadness the title suggests, all of the anger and menace now missing completely for the first time, replaced  by melancholy and reflection. When the drums kick in halfway through, the mood suddenly picks up, embodying the transformation at the heart of the journey the album so clearly captures. Ray of Light carries this brightening mood through, but harks back to the melodic rock of Phases, the consistency of recurring themes, emotions and sounds deepening as the album progresses.

 

And then with unapologetic abruptness, Mixed Signals explodes and hurls the listener back into the pummeling Maiden-like metal of the album’s opening, all driving drums and screaming guitars, a cathartic unleashing on the unresolved anger driving so much of the album’s tension.

 

And just as strikingly, Into the Blue eclipses the sudden flare of Mixed Signals, continuing the back and forth of moods, picking up where Ray of Light left off, all soaring melodies progressing toward some optimism, where the complexity of all of these emotions can co-exist, where some happiness can still be achieved.

 

Closing song Momento underscores this, suggesting that resolution is more than a possibility, an emerging reality, the classical guitars re-surfacing for a beautiful reflection on the hard-won inner peace the entire album struggled so hard to achieve.

 

In a mere 35 minutes, Mixed Signals unloads a flurry of sounds, songs, emotions and stories, building upon itself relentlessly to propel you along a journey, both brutal and uplifting, composed note by note, moment by moment, in the intricate interplay of some masterful guitar playing.  Matt Seeley, Author, Recording Artist & Music Enthusiast