Demir Demirkan – War III
Demir Demirkan – War III
URL: http://demirdemirkan.net/
Demir Demirkan’s War III has an opportunity to go down as one of the more creative and important hard rock themed releases in recent memory. This isn’t because the genre is experiencing a lull in top flight creative talent; at every level, in every style, there is a plethora of talented young and old performers still exercising their artistry with the form in compelling, audience pleasing fashion. It’s because Demirkan is that damn good. He’s free of any overly commercialized trappings, yet he writes and performs music capable of connecting with a widespread audience. He has impeccable guitar chops extending across a range including incendiary lead playing and sensitively rendered acoustic guitar. His lyrics are a step above the genre’s typical fare and even his singing, perhaps the most readily underrated part of his package, has a satisfying emotive edge, understated phrasing talents, and plenty of power. The seven songs on this collection aren’t easy to forget.
“Freedom” has a strong vocal arrangement complementing the superb band performance. Demirkan’s guitar work, naturally, stands out, but he’s clearly a player who value melody and coherence as even his climatic soloing near the song’s end never risks the wallowing in ego we so often hear from other guitar players in this style. The song’s sentiments aren’t anything we haven’t heard before if we’re experienced music listeners, but Demirkan invests the right amount of passion in his delivery and has an idiosyncratic writing style capable of freshening up the subject matter. “Hold On to the Innocence” introduces a stronger presence of keyboards into the mix and, for the first time, acoustic guitar. Demirkan has a lyrical touch with the instrument and it nicely dovetails into the inevitable electric guitar parts to come. “Money Is” possesses an off the cuff ferocity that makes its hard as nails guitar power all the more credible and Demirkan’s band mates turn in an inspired performance. His guitar tone is consistent throughout War III and it should become clear by this point to first time listeners that Demirkan has a signature sound and style making him readily identifiable.
We are taken into whole new areas of Demirkan’s music with the song “I Conform” and its early reliance on piano, keyboards, and Demirkan’s voice sets listeners up much differently than we’ve experienced with every previous track. The full band comes in and enriches the song immeasurably. Demirkan’s lyrics for this song are among his best on War III and he punctuates them quite memorably with a towering guitar solo in the song’s second half. “Let It Burn” starts off unexpectedly with a bit of playful spoken word before flashing into life with some quasi-funk guitar riffing. We’re soon transported back to more customary territory as Demirkan settles into a mid-tempo six string workout with strong vocals. War III is an emphatic hard rock statement and, likewise, an important document from a clearly talented singer/songwriter.
YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/MrDemirdemirkan
Mindy McCall