This album is a real curiosity. A largely instrumental album, it covers so many different musical styles it’s untrue. Then there is the guest list – which puts many superstar albums to shame. Clearly Sherinian has a lot of friends out there but is ‘Blood of the Snake’ worth the sum of its parts? 

Well things get off to a sticky start with opener ‘Czar of Steel’. An appalling Jazz Rock fusion number which is so up its own bottom even Jools Holland would baulk at the indulgence. (Come to think of it Jools Holland’s just about the only muso that doesn’t feature on this CD.) 

It’s the kind of nonsense Coliseum 11 were bunging out many moons ago and only needs the Fast Show’s John Thompson to pop up at the end and say “Niii…ce” to complete the picture. Urghhhhh! 

At this point I’m thinking what a nice Frisbee this CD would make when up pops a very familiar voice and guitar to save the day: Zakk Wylde! Yeah. The bloody wild man of rock himself. The track is called ‘Man with No Name’ and is one of only two tracks to feature vocals. It’s also rather good and Wylde has never sounded better. The chemistry between himself and Sherinian is there for all to hear. What a shame Zakk didn’t feature (vocally) all the way through the album as it might have been something special. 

Track three ‘Phantom Shuffle’ is yet more Jazz Fusion. Ok with a bit of prog in there too. It reminded me of a bad Camel song. Nuff said. Thankfully, apart from the odd ‘Kenny G’ type moment things never get quite so bad again. And of course there is Yngwie Malmsteen to liven things up on the title track and the excellent ‘Viking Massacre’. Funnily enough he sounds the best I’ve heard him in ages too. Perhaps it was because the guys were relaxed guesting on someone else’s album? 

However the most bizarre moment comes on the largely pointless cover of Mungo Jerry’s ‘In the Summertime’. It’s sung by non other than Billy Idol. And features Slash on guitar. What a line up for such a dodgy song. Ok its only a bit of fun and worth it just to hear Idol, of all people, sing the immortal line “take a drink, take a drive”. If anything dates this song it’s this! Things have definitely changed since Mungo’s day. 

So there you have it. One of the weirder albums I’ve heard in a while and almost un-reviewable due to the number of guest artists and variety of material on offer. Clearly fans of instrumental albums will love ‘Blood of the Snake’ and it’s really no worse than Satriani’s recent Super Colossal. The musicianship is unbelievable and the ‘Man with No name’ is a very fine rock track. If only it didn’t have all that Jazz Fusion nonsense I would have enjoyed it rather more. But that’s’ only a personal opinion.

Let us know your views on 'Blood Of The Snake'

Track List

Czar Of Steel
man With No Name
Phantom Shuffle
Been Here Before
Blood Of The Snake
On The Moon
The Monsoon
Prelude To Battle
Vikings Massacre
In The Summertime

Line Up

Derek Sherinian - Keyboards
John Petrucci - Guitar
Zakk Wylde - Guitar
Yngwie Malmsteen - Guitar
Simon Phillips - Drums
Tony Franklin - Bass
Brad Gillis - Guitar
Brian Tichy - Drums
Billy Idol - Vocals
Slash - Guitar