Review of Jim Matheos' "Away With Words"
By Joey "Lord" Severance <lordseverance@hotmail.com>
http://www.thesyn.com/lordseverance/

What do you do when you have more talent than you know what to do with? You 
share the wealth, and lucky for us Jim Matheos isn't a selfish guy. His second 
solo release Away With Words is much, much better than his previous solo effort 
First Impressions. Having more of a Celtic feel this time, (I'm kinda reminded 
of the music of Lorena McKennit here.)  but of course there are many other 
influences as well. None of which shows the side of a heavy metal guitar genius. 
(after all,this guy did have a major hand in writing one of my top 5 records of 
all time -Awaken The Guardian) but most that show a more creative and passionate 
side to his work besides what he does with Fates Warning. The melodies are 
instantly memorable and the production is crystal clear. Check out the song The 
Last Light of August with it's ode to the awesome instrumental section of Fates 
Warning's A Pleasant Shade of Gray (Part 8). This is the kind of  record you 
listen to when you want to clear your head from listening to old school necro 
style metal all day. A fantastic record from an unsung modern day genius. I 
think I'll go listen to A Pleasant Shade of Gray now.......