Agah Bahari is a new amazing guitar player, originally from Iran, that is currently living in Canada. His debut, The Second Sight Of A Mind” was originally released in 2008 and re-issued in 2009 on the Unicorn Digital record label. He fits in perfectly on the label. In fact, he’s close in style to others on the label, like Spaced Out and Junk Farm.
Joining Agah are Derek Sherinian (keyboard) , Virgil Donati (drums), Ric Firebrick (bass) and Rufus Philpot (bass on “Revolving Universe”).All are virtuosos in their instruments and they all not afraid to show off their riffs. One thing with Agah is he doesn’t steal the spotlight on every song. Heck, he could since it’s *his* album. Major kudos to him!
Normally I’m turned off by virtuoso style playing, mainly because it lacks soul. The music that Agah creates is one of the rare occasions where the combination of both technical and melodic playing are utilized. He just knows when or when not to solo or dominate a song. There’s also a small element of Middle Eastern themes on songs "Orgasmic Sense of Insanity" and "Protectors Caravan". On "Everlasting Perfection" the music shows a more laid back approach with fretless bass and blues based guitar playing.
I keep replaying the entire album, The Second Sight Of A Mind and if more virtuoso players out there approach their playing the way that Agah does, then listeners like myself will welcome them open arms. I would recommend Agah Bahari to fans of Planet X, Derek Sherinian, Spaced Out and similar acts. All others must listen with an open mind.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on March 6th, 2010
