Bluerex - Bluerex

Bluerex

Bluerex
self-released; 2014

3.5 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

When was the last time you popped in a guitar album from a dude like Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen? Depending on how you answered that question you may or may not enjoy the self-titled debut album Bluerex by Bluerex. If you answered I have those guys along with other guitar gods in constant rotation blasting out of my car on my morning commute I would move forward with reading the rest of the review. If you said I would take Satriani once a month I would also keep reading but if you can't stand the guitar gymnastics of virtuoso guitar players then I won’t be offended if you stop reading right now.

Blurex is the moniker for Nathan Gallagher and he spent the last couple of years studying music and creating this album. It’s an instrumental guitar album that is similar to other guitar albums and focuses on technical skill more than anything else. The songs on this album aren’t going to get stuck in your head because of the hook and you will most likely not get overwhelmed with emotions. If you like to listen to guitarists do their thing then you might get caught thinking something like “that was pretty tight” or “I wish I could do that.” 

Blurex is a guitar album but Gallagher does a pretty good job at keeping it interesting. He weaves in some unexpected styles that you don't necessarily expect. Take for instance “Planked,” which sounds like a French waltz of sorts or “Techno Pirate,” which trades out the organic drums for electronic ones and video game style synths. 

Other tracks like “Ohce” and “Fairoh” veers towards more guitar type wizardry than is typical on an instrumental album. Gallagher coats his guitar in delay rather than distortion and I have to say it was a nice change.

Overall, there were some solid songs amongst the batch and it is worth a spin to see if you want to explore this album further.

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