Yngwie Malmsteen – World on Fire (Album Review)

“How can ‘less be more’? That’s impossible. More is more!” declared Yngwie Malmsteen in his interview for Sam Dunn’s 2011 Music Documentary Metal Evolution. That was how one may sum up Malmsteen’s contributions to music; and while many Metal enthusiasts continue to criticize him for what they dismiss as overindulgence, many others just love the man for exactly the same reasons – his relentless appetite to express his musical expressions in extreme measures. After all, does pure music not come from the mind and heart of an artist who does not have concern for what critics might have to say? Simply, Malmsteen is an epitome of that type of artist, making music founded on passion, speed, dexterity, complexity, and calculated abandon.

Born in 1963, in Stockholm, Sweden, Yngwie J. Malmsteen started out as the guitarist of Steeler and then of Alcatrazz, releasing with the bands in 1983 one album each: Steeler’s self-titled and Alcatrazz’s No Parole from Rock ’n’ Roll, respectively. Early on, Malmsteen’s uncontrollable fingers and penchant for bubbling arpeggios and Classical-rooted slinky scaling were already apparent. In the year that followed, Malmsteen embarked on a solo career, which proved to be enduring and prolific, releasing an average of one album every one and a half years. From 1984’s Rising Force to this year’s World on Fire, Malmsteen has developed a consistent guitar style that became his distinct trademark. Notably, Malmsteen has been backed up by a revolving door of fellow Metalists over the years; currently, his bandmates are Ralph Ciavolino (bass, vocals), Mark Ellis (drums, percussion), and Nick Marino (keyboards, vocals). With twenty studio albums primarily to his name’s credit, the guitar speedster is indeed on fire!

Released on June 1, 2016, World on Fire begins without beating around the fiery bush. The opening title track explodes straightaway with sweep-picked arpeggios, which linger consistently through the entirety of the song. This bubbling of guitar strings slithers into the ensuing triumvirate of instrumentals: the mystifying “Sorcery,” which has a faint echo of Malmsteen’s classic “Rising Force;” the slightly slower, sinister-sounding “Abandon;” and the symphonic and melodic “Top Down, Foot Down.” The singing resumes with “Lost in Machine,” where one can find Malmsteen’s use of restraint in the first half of the track by playing more power chords than his trademark sweeps, only to jubilantly burst out with noodles and bubbles yet again as soon as the customary ad-lib interlude sets in. Oozing with Glam Metal’s hard-edged and progressive sensibilities, this will fit on a playlist that includes Whitesnake’s “Children of the Night,” Skid Row’s “Youth Gone Wild,” and Van Halen’s “On Fire.”

The dramatic structure of the Neoclassical Metal instrumental ballad “Largo” serves as a breather from the album’s overall shredding, Speed Metal extravaganza. It harks to Malmsteen’s previous, similarly conceptualized compositions that include “Blackstar,” “Overture 1382,” and “Leviathan.” Following is “No Rest for the Wicked,” yet another instrumental that returns the album to form; a relentless attack on the aural sense. The high-energy vibe flows to the ensuing plucked balladry of “Soldier,” and then restlessly seeps through the marching “DUF 1220,” and into the slight reprise of “Abandon.” Finally, Malmsteen finishes off his latest oeuvre with the melodramatic majesty of “Nacht Musik,” whose combination of Power Metal’s catchiness and Neoclassical Metal’s intricacy will remind the listener of the master shredder’s flawless virtuosity or consistent pomposity, depending on which side of the equation the listener chooses to be on.

One can say whatever one wants to say against him and his music, but one could never underestimate the agility, prolificacy, and passion of Yngwie Malmsteen which seep impeccably into his works and onto the ears of enthusiasts of this hybrid of Metal. CrypticRock gives World on Fire 4 out of 5 stars.