Review of Jim Papadatos - Judgement Day
If you like your metal with plenty of guitar, Jim Papadatos' Judgement Day should give you enough to work with. The Greek guitarist's debut solo album is built around eight tracks of progressive metal, metalcore and modern guitar music, with riffs, leads and solos taking the place normally occupied by a vocalist.
Papadatos is obviously a guitarist first, but Judgement Day isn't simply a collection of exercises. The heavier parts have the tightness you'd expect from modern progressive metal, while the lead guitars bring in more melody and atmosphere. Keyboards are used as well, adding another layer to the arrangements without taking the guitar out of the centre.
“Priest & Poltergeist” is my favourite track here. Gus Drax appears on the song with a guest solo, but the solo isn't what makes the track stand out for me. The melodies do. There is an emotional quality to the guitar lines that gives the song more character, and that's something I always appreciate on an instrumental record. Gus Drax is a more natural fit. His contribution to “Priest & Poltergeist” gives Papadatos another guitarist to work with without turning the song into a competition. And again, the melodies are what I remember afterwards.
The instrumental format works surprisingly well throughout the album. Most of the songs don't have vocals, but the guitar doesn't sound as if it's simply filling in for a singer. The riffs and melodies are doing the actual songwriting work, with the lead guitar moving between melodic passages and more technically focused sections.
Then there's “Digital Collapse”, where Papachrist comes in on vocals. It's the obvious change of pace on the album, and it works because the rest of Judgement Day is so strongly guitar-led. After several instrumental tracks, suddenly having a vocalist in the middle of the arrangement gives the song a different identity without changing what the project is about.
The modern progressive-metal influence is impossible to miss. There are technical riffs, heavy rhythm guitars, melodic leads and the kind of precise playing that has become standard among today's guitarists. Papadatos also brings in elements of metalcore and djent, although the record remains much more interested in guitar melody than in pure rhythmic complexity.
The titles give the album a darker character as well. “Omnipotent”, “The Time Is Nigh”, “Shadow of a World” aren't exactly subtle, but they fit the atmosphere. This isn't light or casual instrumental rock. Even when the guitars move into more melodic territory, there is still a sense of weight behind them.
Papadatos worked with Bob Katsionis on the production, and the guitar remains the obvious centre of the sound. That's probably unavoidable on a record like this. He has several Ibanez guitars and Bare Knuckle pickup combinations in his arsenal, but the equipment list isn't really the interesting part. What matters is whether all that guitar work gives the songs something to hold on to.
In the better moments, it does.
The problem is that progressive metal has been giving technically minded guitarists plenty of room for a long time now. There are familiar ingredients all over Judgement Day, and Papadatos isn't trying to pretend otherwise. The technical side of his playing is already convincing, but I find myself more interested when the melodies take over.
That's why “Priest & Poltergeist” gets my vote. It's not necessarily the track with the most impressive guitar gymnastics. It is the one that gives me something I can take away from the song.
For a debut, Judgement Day is a solid introduction to Jim Papadatos and his approach to instrumental metal. The playing is obviously the foundation, but the melodic side gives the album its more interesting moments. If he pushes that part of his writing further next time, there is plenty of room for the project to grow.
https://jimpapadatos.bandcamp.com/album/judgement-day
