Death Grip Tribulations

SHRAPNEL

Dario Lorina may spend most of his days in a rhythm guitar role for Black Label Society, but now he’s flexing his solo muscle once again with instrumental album #2 - Death Grip Tribulations. It’s a refreshing alternative to the usual one-man guitar shows; there’s no unnecessary technical wankery or frenetic time changes, for example - just a man who loves the guitar. While it’s built on a solid foundation of classic rock, Lorina finds time to play around with a bunch of other genres, including blues, folk, funk, thrash, and even some calm ambience. But despite the variety, Death Grip... gets stuck in a fairly limited stylistic rock range for the first two thirds, and only really picks up towards the end. Still, he can wrangle rock riffs and blues like a pro, so much so that Death Grip... makes a compelling case for Lorina to score some solos on the next Black Label album. Pay attention, Zakk Wylde.