REVIEWS AMORIELLO TOBY KNAPP SPLIT SINGLE

5 out of 5

Guitar shredders Toby Knapp (Shrapnel/Shredguy Records) and Thomas Amoriello (AMORIELLO) have teamed up to unleash a split single for vinyl collectors on Germany's H42 Records.

These two supremely talented guitarists were born just 11 days apart, and have a similar playing style. Toby Knapp has released dozens of recordings exploring extreme guitar styles from technical death metal to power metal. His bands include: ONWARD, WAXEN, AFFLIKTOR, and WHERE EVIL FOLLOWS, and countless guest appearances. Thomas Amoriello has previously collaborated with several legends in heavy metal on his albums, including Vinny Appice, Mark Boals, Ronni Letekro and Alex Masi, just to name a few. He holds a Doctor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music in classical guitar performance and has received accolades as an educator. Toby and Thomas worked together previously on AMORIELLO's Dear Dark EP (2020), so it just seems logical that the two would collaborate again. However, neither appears on the other's song. These are independent tracks that have been packaged together.

The first song is Knapp's "House On Cult Corner", which is a blazing fast shred-filled instrumental tribute to DEEP PURPLE's Machine Head era. This is a classy and engaging riff adventure from beginning to end! The second track is Amoriello's cover of the classic BLACK SABBATH track from Mob Rules, "Country Girl". It features a guest solo from Mike Wead (MERCYFUL FATE/KING DIAMOND) which is fantastic. The track also features Travis Wills (CRIMSON GLORY) on vocals, and he does a great job here. The cover is faithful to the original and even adds a nice harmony guitar part at the end.

Shout out to collectors, this single will only be sold on vinyl but it comes in three different variations: gold vinyl with black silk, black vinyl with gold silk, and neon yellow vinyl with alternate cover art. It will be released on August 16th, with preorders starting on August 1st. Go 

- Alex Yarborough Dr. Metal KNAC.com