“Ambient clean tones morph into Wagnerian waves of distortion, as he employs the entire range of his 7-string guitar. Álvaro Domene has mastered the art of turning non-pitched abrasive sounds into a kind of beauty.” – Michael Ross (Guitar Moderne). With its nebulous barricades of visceral tension and epic soundscapes, ‘The Compass’ exhibits virtuosic expertise of both conventional guitar performance and the incorporation of live electronics and extended technique, generating a sonic cathedral of ear-splitting proportions. Textures, feedback, walls of sound, polyrhythmic inventiveness, glitch and real time sampling are some of the key elements that form the fabric of this stunning recording in which the boundaries between metal, contemporary classical and jazz musics are not only blurred but ingeniously manipulated beyond recognition. The 10 pieces on the album traverse a wide range of sound, style and sonic permutation. From the elegant and more classically aligned “solo guitar” pieces like “Pendulum” to the distorted bone-crushing eminence of the title track, ‘The Compass’ reveals Domene’s creative and compositional approach to be equally inspired by classical composers Anton Webern, Scelsi, and György Ligeti, as contemporary forward-thinking metal acts Gorguts and Meshuggah. Performed on an electric seven-string guitar and stunningly recorded without overdubs, mixed and mastered by the legendary Colin Marston at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves in Queens, the album is a commanding statement of creative solo guitar music and a phenomenal solo debut release by the young Domene. ‘The Compass’ is essential listening for all plugged-in creative music fans and reveals what a steady diet of metal, jazz and contemporary classical music can do to a Spanish guitarist living in post-fact USA. Who says anger can't be a constructive emotion?
