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The Gauntlet: Chris Caffery |
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"Christopher Caffery is a living legend among classically influenced rock and metal guitarists of our times. His whole life has been dedicated to being a hard working, skilful, passionate and inspired musician. Plus he is an extremely positive, humorous, open minded, humble and intelligent character. The perfect man for getting entertaining interviews, the perfect buddy for having a great night at a bar until the sun comes up. Always surrounded by bunches of the most beautiful girls, he appears like a never aging kid, handing over mysterious business cards, announcing himself as "Chef, Gynaecologist, Erotic Politician, Disney Addict, Sun Worshipper, President of the United States, Neuro-Surgeon, Nude Photographer" and, last but not least: "Guitarist".
Chris played with numerous musicians and projects, entertained offers from various famous acts like Ronnie Dio, Megadeth, Skid Row and UFO among others. They made their own way anyway, but Chris found the role of his life by joining the classical line-up of genius Florida legends Savatage back in 1987, when he was only 19 years of age. Accompanied by a series of ups and downs, leaving Savatage twice, he finally got together with the unique act from Florida permanently in 1995, acting as the undisputed key player on guitar since then, playing loads of phenomenal live shows and headlining major festivals with one of the greatest and most creative (over the past five years the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA has sold millions of albums in the United States. The sold out tours entertain hundrends of thousands of fans every year with Chris as a lead guitarist and master of ceremonies)bands of the last two decades.
His firt solo album, "Faces", shows all the facets of his musical life. Caffery's first album for Greek metal specialists Black Lotus Records, delivers splendid versatile compositions with ultimately catchy hooks. Chris' fantasies range from ultra-heavy explosions to psychedelic slow songs, bluesy tunes and thrilling crossover (nu)metal anthems: powerful, with a distinctive progressive and personal touch, packed with discreetly added sound gimmicks all over the place.
The perfect round-up of "Faces" is done by Chris' companions: Dave Z, a highly talented young American bassist, Jeff Plate, Savatage's drummer since 1994, and former Rainbow pianist Paul Morris, who used to hammer away the keyboard for Doro Pesch in the early nineties. The entertaining stand-up-comedian juggles with perfectly arranged keyboard moments whenever a song needs some efforts from outer space.
Undoubtedly the biggest surprise of "Faces" is Chris' strong, rough, male voice and his amazing vocal variations. Not bad for a guy, who has been facing the job of a lead vocalist for the very first time in his life! His spectrum ranges from aggressively barked aggro shouting to clean melodic singing with lots of experiments in between. Chris sounds like the Grandma of King Diamond, like some bizarre breakfast of David Lee Roth with David Bowie and David Byrne, like the Bee Gees lost in a death metal ghost train, like Alice Cooper In Chains or like a singing cruise missile.
As an extra addition to the mighty "Faces" album, there will be another 9-track CD entitled "God damn war" which has a concept of it's own: War. This bonus album represents a more aggressive and socially aware side of Chris, incorporating various elements, which altogether create a unique story expressed through metal music by the magical hands and voice of Chris.
Not to forget: Chris is almost unbeatable in demonstrating his skills as a stylish old school guitarist and powering his songs with brilliant edgy lead guitar thunderstorms.
Nuff said: Enjoy!"
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