Album Review: Shahyd Legacy – Gateways (Self Released)

Gateways is the 4th solo album from world renowned guitarist Shahyd Legacy, most famous for playing lead guitar in the metal band, Sacred Legacy. Gateways was released on 26th of June 2017.

An instrumental album, Gateways is all about the guitar & what magic can be produced from it. A mix of up-tempo tunes & slower, more melody driven moments. Each has its own merits with the faster bear of opener Dominion getting the blood pumping before Event Horizon goes for a more ‘epic’ feel. Something it pulls off with ease.

What really helps Gateways stand out from the rest of the guitar heavy instrumental crowd is the length of the tracks. Of the nine tracks only one goes over five minutes & even that one is less then six minutes long. It keeps everything short & sharp so it feels less like showing off.

That’s not to suggest that no other instrument gets a look in. The drumming is consistently solid & in the case of The Imitation Game there are some exciting sounding bass hooks.

Duels of Fate goes for a much harder sound. A wicked drum beat dominates while the squealing of the guitar backs it up perfectly. An absolute bad-ass piece of music that will see the repeat button being hit on multiple occasions.

Gateways is a feel-good album. It’s got so much upbeat melody & riffs that it will put you in a good mood easily. The hard-rocking Warriors Dawn, the other-worldly hooks of Stardust & the slow & mellow cosmic efforts of Lunar. Damn good songs.

A seriously strong instrumental album comes to a finish with the slamming drum beats & huge sounding riffs of Kingdom of Eden. Finishing as it begun, it’s a scorching tune that will leave you feeling seriously satisfied.

What makes Gateways such a great listen is that it has plenty of showy guitar moments but hasn’t lost track of the aim…to create an album that every rock & metal fan will want to hear.

Shahyd Legacy – Gateways Full Track Listing:

1. Dominion
2. Event Horizon
3. Between Worlds
4. The Imitation Game
5. Duels of Fate
6. Warriors Dawn
7. Stardust
8. Lunar
9. Kingdom of Eden

You can pick up the album via most major streaming services including Apple Music below. Head over to Shahyd Legacy’s official website here where you can listen to the album, buy it, as well as earlier releases & check out tour dates. Like the Facebook Page here, follow on Twitter & Instagram. Finally head over to SoundCloud where you can sample some of the great music released so far.