Yngwie Malmsteen preview

Yngwie Malmsteen
House Of Blues, Chicago
Sunday, October 19, 2008

Kids, this is Yngwie Malmsteen:

And this is Yngwie Malmsteen on Photoshop:

Any questions?

Nowadays, Swedish guitar god Yngwie Malmsteen may need some airbrush enhancement for his new album, Perpetual Flame (In a September posting, Metalsucks.net used this fitting headline to announce the record’s release: “It’s 2008. Only Yngwie Malmsteen can get away with this shit”), but he sure doesn’t need any digital help for his playing – the man is still unbelievably better than any other guitarist you know.

That’s not a surprise. What is, though, is Perpetual Flame includes a good chunk of honest-to-goodness songwriting. Of course songs like “Lament,” “Heavy Heart,” and “Caprici Di Diabolo” are nothing more than instrumental jerk-offs for Malmsteen – excuses to to play faster, more technical, and more indulgently than ever necessary. But this is fuckin’ Yngwie, dude; fans want – need – that stuff.

The addition of big-voiced singer Tim “Ripper” Owens (whose heavy metal descension in the last dozen years took him from Judas Priest to Iced Earth to Malmsteen) seems to have convinced the guitarist to step back a bit (emphasize “a bit”) and let riffs and Owens’ pipes guide the songs. “Eleventh Hour,” “Be Careful What You Wish For,” “Red Devil” (a love song for Malmsteen’s cherished Ferrari), and especially “Death Dealer” are impressive power metal. Unfortunately Malmsteen feels the need to assume lead vocals on “Magic City,” which is totally unnecessary with Owens in the fold. But hey, once again: It’s fuckin’ Yngwie, dude.

By the way, as ridiculous as the Perpetual Flame cover art is, we have no doubt Malmsteen is actually capable of igniting his fretboard in flames.

Russian metal group Anj opens.

— Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly