October last year seen Firewind mastermind and guitar icon, Gus G., release his critically acclaimed, new solo affair entitled Quantum Leap via AFM Records. Following an impressive music career of more than 20 years, nine record releases with Firewind, as well as recording and touring with acts such Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne, Quantum Leap is Gus G.‘s fourth, and entirely instrumental solo album, featuring 10 tracks that both showcase the distinctive playing style Gus is known for yet taking fans into new territory.

Quantum Leap came together over the course of the worldwide pandemic that, unfortunately, prevented Firewind’s self-titled album from 2020 from gaining any real momentum. Immobilized by the quarantine measures that kept him at home, Gus began compiling musical ideas to keep himself occupied, which led to the full-on effort to write and record an album during the summer of 2021 “I didn’t make Quantum Leap with the intention of it being the next one in the cycle of solo albums,” Gus admits. “It was more of a case of, ‘What else is there?’ I needed the creative outlet.”

Just a few months since the successful album release via AFM, today the guitarist has shared a brand new music video clip for the song ‘Night Driver’! Gus comments: “Night Driver is probably the most stylistically diverse song of Quantum Leap. I gave it a synth wave twist and it now has that 80s vhs movie vibe!”

Quantum Leap was assembled in pieces, featuring new compositions and material taken from Gus’ “riff vault”, where he stores unfinished ideas and revisits them when he’s able. The album started as a full-on solo outing, with Gus programming drums and playing guitar, bass and keyboards, but a chance encounter with drummer Vincent Velasco – who volunteered his services and subsequently blew Gus away – opened up the production. Producer / engineer Dennis Ward, who was responsible for mixing and mastering Quantum Leap ended up laying down bass tracks on eight of the 10 tracks.

Unlike many instrumental albums, Quantum Leap doesn’t feel like a musical root canal or long and drawn- out brain surgery. Each of the 10 tracks are solid and compact musical ideas, with Gus’ guitar acting as the voice. “I really needed to have the guitar taking a vocal approach. I knew that if I just kept the playing technical it wasn’t going to be enjoyable. So the playing isn’t always about technique, and once I found the formula it was easier to create melodies for the record,“ he reveals.

“I’m a guitar player and I cannot stand most instrumental guitar albums,” he adds. “The classic are the classics, but very rarely do I get into them because after the third track it just seems like an endless guitar solo where everything that sounds the same. That’s something I wanted to avoid on Quantum Leap and I think I succeeded in doing that.”

And without a doubt, he did. Grab your album copy of this must-have solo effort by one of the greatest guitarists in rock and metal, Quantum Leap is available at THIS LOCATION!

One of the best guitarists of our time makes a quantum leap and lets his fans participate in his virtuoso world of guitar sounds. The result: GUS G.‘s latest album “Quantum Leap”.

The instrumental album relies on symmetry and brevity. Gus G. manages in an impressive way to center his guitar and replaces with her the role of the singer.

In addition, “Quantum Leap” does not simply tie in with older projects by the artist. Rather, it’s a mix of older heavy metal tricks, that are reminiscent of FIREWIND, enriched with more power, new creative ideas and very own melodies. See for yourselfe : 

I didn’t make Quantum Leap with the intention of it being the next one in the cycle of solo albums,” Gus admits. “It was more of a case of, ‘What else is there?’ I needed the creative outlet.”

Already the first track “Into The Unknown” presents itself in a new way, compared to older solo works of Gus G. In many parts the song is reminiscent of fast progressive rock, which invites you to groove along with its many nuances. The same applies to the single “Exosphere” and the focus track “Quantum Leap”.
The relaxed ballad “Enigma Of Life”, on the other hand, is completely detached of the prog-wave and leads the listener further into a varied and stylistically memorable work.

Wilder tracks like “Fierce” or “Judgment Day” flank the typical Metal that Gus G. fans love so much. And they are not the only fans of the Greek talent: “This album […] is overflowing with red hot smoking guitar work and unrelenting metal spirit,” enthuses Marty Friedman, himself a gifted guitarist.

“Quantum Leap” is crowned by “Force Majeure”, which, with the support of guitar star Vinnie Moor, fully expresses the elaborate handwork of Gus G.
If you can’t get enough after the 11 short but crisp tracks, you can look forward to the bonus CD: It is a collection of live performances from the last tour and again provides the complicated guitar gymnastics that Gus G. is capable of.

Steve Morese (Deep Purble) also admits the talent without envy:
“Gus can play the very difficult, intense passages with no problem … but what makes the album easy to listen to is that melodic themes are in every song, which allows the technical parts to be more striking.”

The mixture of progressive rock elements, synth waves, new melodies and hard metal parts, makes “Quantum Leap” a real quantum leap in the scene.
The exceptional guitarist proves: “As an artist nowadays, you can basically do whatever you like and there’s an audience out there for it. Instrumental music might not be a big seller, but everybody and can listen to anything, and there are no limits to what I can do.”

Gus G. made a name for himself with Firewind, the band he initially launched as a solo project in 1998 that made its official debut in 2002. In that time the band has released nine albums, while Gus has also recorded and toured with Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne. He has also made inroads as a solo artist, having released three albums under his own name: I Am The Fire (2014), Brand New Revolution (2015), and Fearless (2018). He closes 2021 with a new instrumental solo effort, Quantum Leap, featuring 10 tracks that both showcase the playing style Gus is known for and takes fans into new territory.

GUS G. made a name for himself with Firewind, the band he initially launched as a solo project in 1998 that made its official debut in 2002. In that time the band has released nine albums, while Gus has also recorded and toured with Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne. He has also made inroads as a solo artist, having released three albums under his own name: I Am The Fire (2014), Brand New Revolution (2015), and Fearless (2018). He closes 2021 with a new instrumental solo effort, Quantum Leap, featuring 10 tracks that both showcase the playing style Gus is known for and takes fans into new territory.

Quantum Leap came together over the course of the worldwide pandemic that, unfortunately, prevented Firewind’s self-titled album from 2020 from gaining any real momentum. Immobilized by the quarantine measures that kept him at home, Gus began compiling musical ideas to keep himself occupied, which led to the full-on effort to write and record an album during the summer of 2021.

“I didn’t make Quantum Leap with the intention of it being the next one in the cycle of solo albums,” Gus admits. “It was more of a case of, ‘What else is there?’ I needed the creative outlet.”

A creative outlet was found – and a new track was created: „Enigma Of Life“. The instrumental impressively shows off Gus G.’s talent and the diversity of guitar instrumentals: