Bryan Beller Releases New Solo Album, “Scenes From The Flood”
Bryan Beller has been one busy guy. Between his work with The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Dethklok, he’s been running nonstop for years. That’s why it’s no surprise that it’s been eleven years since his last solo album. The monster bassist has rectified that with an epic new double concept album featuring many of the world-class musicians he’s befriended over the years.
Beller wrote Scenes From the Flood based around a question: “When the storm comes for us, the big one after which things will not be the same, who are we and what do we become in those defining moments? What do we keep, and what do we let go?”
“Not exactly light fare, is it?” Beller jests. “But all of my truly favorite albums take me to deep, sometimes challenging places, even upon repeated listening. Especially the double albums. Somewhere inside me, in the eleven years since my last solo album, I’d absorbed and processed a series of life experiences that, I thought, could possibly inform an extended work like this. I felt like I had something big and complex to say. And then I just dove into it.”
He explores the idea over eighteen tracks that range from the delicate opener “The Scouring of Three & Seventeen” to the synthy breakbeat-laden “A Quickening” to the all-out rocker “Army of the Black Rectangles.” In true concept album form, Scenes From the Flood is best digested as a whole. Beller’s thoughtfulness in composing each track is evident as, although the styles range widely throughout, they morph into each other for a euphoric experience.
The music is perfectly fitted to each of his guests including Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, Mike Kenneally, Gene Hoglan, Joe Travers, Ray Hearne, Nate Morton, and more. It’s also evident that the bassist’s writing takes precedence over his instrument. Tracks like “Everything and Nothing” are bass-centric without taking away from the emotion of the music.
Although I highly suggest listening top to bottom, get a taste of the album one of the heavier songs called “The Storm”:
Scenes From the Flood is available now on CD, vinyl and as a digital download (iTunes and Amazon MP3).
Scenes from the Flood Track List:
- The Scouring Of Three & Seventeen
- Volunteer State
- Everything And Nothing
- A Quickening
- Steiner In Ellipses
- Always Worth It
- Lookout Mountain
- The Storm
- The Flood
- Bunkistan
- As Advertised
- Army Of The Black Rectangles
- The Outer Boundary
- Angles & Exits
- The Inner Boundary
- World Class
- Sweet Water
- Let Go Of Everything