UMUR
"Turn of my century" is the debut full-length studio album by Greek metal artist Bob Katsionis. The album was released in 2002 by Lion Music. The project is the brainchild of keyboard player, guitarist and composer Babis Katsionis. Katsionis is also known for his contributions to albums by Firewind, Nightfall and Septic Flesh. On this album he his helped out by Jimmy B. on bass and Fotis Berdardo on drums.
The music on "Turn of my century" is instrumental progressive/ neo-classical shred metal with and emphasis on synths/ keyboards. While Babis Katsionis does display his considerable guitar playing skills a couple of times during the playing time, it´s obvious that he is first and foremost a keyboard player. And an extremely talented one at that. The 17 tracks on the 57:57 minutes long album are all pretty short and to the point. In this case the point being vehicles for some extremely fast keyboard shredding. I´m tempted to say that Babis Katsionis only knows two tempos and that´s fast and faster, but that probably wouldn´t be fair as he does demonstrate his ability to write and play slower parts too. The drums, bass and guitar lays down a solid foundation but as on most keyboard player/ guitar player albums, the lead instrument is high in the mix and completely dominates the soundscape.
The production is a bit flat and lacks dynamics, but it´s not unpleasant in any way.
As a display of virtuosic skill, "Turn of my century" is a great album, but honestly I think the album lacks some really good and memorable songs. After the album is over I´m not able to remember but a few of the 17 tracks (tracks like the opening title track and the funny closing track "Scary Groove" are of the more memorable kind). But while the album is playing my jaw hits the floor several times, so I´m a bit biased towards the album. I guess a 3 star rating isn´t all wrong.