Emir Hot is a new name for the metal masses. Of Bosnian descent the guitarist relocated to UK a couple of years ago and set about forging a career in music outside his homeland. Winning the 2005 UK “Guitar Hero Of The Year” competition gave Emir some visibility amongst the guitar underground and its now that his debut album “Sevdah Metal” sees the light of day on Lion Music. Anyone expecting a guitar instrumental release think again as this is a album in the neo-classical/melodic power metal genre and sees Emir team up with ex Royal Hunt/Artension vocalist John West and drum legend Mike Terrana for 10 tracks of superbly executed metal.

Fans of Yngwie Malmsteen and indeed Royal Hunt will find this a superb listen, yet what separates Emir from these names is his incorporation of his native Bosnia much loved “sevdah” traditional music into this rich metal frameworks. This gives Emir a good deal of individuality and the conflicts his home nation have been through come through in the lyrics as well. Musically this is very riff orientated, yet there the focus is always on the song and John West delivers his best vocal performance since the Artension ‘Forces Of Nature’ album to these ears. Lead wise Emir can peel of licks like you would expect from the Lion Music label i.e. with considerable skill and ease, yet there is a lot of emotion in these musical lines and Emir knows the value of a strong melody.

Opening with brief Sevdah opener “Forspil” the next 3 tracks “Devil In Disguise”, “World Set On Fire” and “Skies And Oceans” are first rate metal with fast tempos, soaring vocals and superb drum work from Terrana. The latter of these 3 tracks sees a Sevdah musical interlude in much the same way Yngwie infuses a classical arpeggio sequence before Emir floors you with his solo. The traditional Balkan feel is expanded upon for the 11 minute “Sevdah Metal Rhapsody” which also touches on numerous metal genres all adding upto a great feel and unique end result. The albums highlight comes in the guise of the metal ballad “Stand And Fight” which is nothing short of stunning, from the melodic and highly emotional verses (beautifully sung by West) to the big nation uniting chorus this is topped off with a solo that is perfect for the song and all adds up to making this track alone worth purchasing the album for. “Endless Pain” fuses almost thrash metal type intensity with a sevdah melody on the chorus whilst the instrumental “Hora Martisoului” is like polka on steroids before “Land Of The Dark” takes the melody of the prior track and builds it into a power metal double bass drum stormer. Whilst it’s arguably the weakest vocal track on the album its lightening fast riff will dazzle with its complexity. The album closes with the 8:27 epic “You” and it’s a corker from start to finish. Fusing lighter moments with another grandiose verse the track sees another excellent vocal performance from West (backed up by female vocalist Charlie Squire), whilst Emir fuses acoustic guitar work in the verses which work nicely with keyboard orchestrations, the chorus is another superb moment and the track is home to arguably the guitar solo of the album which sees Emir lay down some beautiful lines which trade licks with keyboardist Brandon Morris, Emir’s lick at 3:30 is one of the best moments in lead guitar I have heard in a long time… all in all an excellent way to end a rather excellent album.

Emir Hot has delivered a debut album of stunning proportions. The production is top notch, the cover artwork and inlay (by Absinth Playground) are superb and the material has pulled some of the best performances out of John West and Mike Terrana that I have heard in a long time. Whilst it may be easy to only view Emir as a hotshot guitarist it would be doing him a disservice as Sevdah Metal goes to show he is also a hot-shot composer. Overall this album can be summed up in one word – essential.