JOE MATERA / CREATURE OF HABIT (2012)

"Creature Of Habit" is the brand new album by Australian guitarist Joe Matera (http://www.joematera.com/home.cfm) . Backing Matera in this one are James Strickler (Angellic Rage) on drums, Tony Dolan on bass (3 tracks) and, also, Rich Davenport on bass on one track. Other guests here are Fred Mascherino and Rick Brewster.


The albums opens with a 'clever' intro to get us into the "Creature Of Habit" philosophy. "Slide" is a brilliant tune! It has a fine melody, very good arrangements and it's been already the ringtone for my cellphone! "Outland" is moving to the same melodic paths as "Slide" while "Endless Summer" is another highlight. This is a more mid-tempo with again a very good melody. "No Way" has a harder edged riff and "Fallen Angel" is the first vocal track of the album. This is a great melodic rock tune. Relaxing, melodic with a  catchy chorus line and a nice solo. I have to say that the vocal performances by Joe are top notch and I would like to hear more vocals in his future works! "The Seeker" is a slower tune and the most beautiful thing here are the acoustic parts. A really beautiful melody! "Built For Speed" is an up-tempo tune but unfortunately is too short!!!  For the end, there are three bonus tracks that are some demos of the above mentioned tunes.

All in all, this is an extremely interesting album. It has some heavenly influenced melodies, great guitar work, very good arrangements and the 'vocal' track rules!!! Well done Joe!!
HeavyParadise's Rating : 8/10