According to the FAQ on his site, at present Pathian is not interested in working with a band or in playing out live. I'm sorry to hear that. While I loved this collection of instrumental tracks, on several occasions I found myself wishing for vocals. A powerful vocalist with an operatic set of pipes could do for his music what Roger Daltrey did for the inimitable Mr. Townsend's. Still, you can't fault the man for stubbornly following his own vision and doing his own thing, particularly when he does it this well.

In "Sunset Boulevard" Norma Desmond said, "I stayed big. It was the pictures that got small." The same could be said of modern rock music. Few are left who are willing to go for beefy power chords, guitar anthems and technical virtuosity. (Too many visions of middle-aged men with mullet haircuts, perhaps... ) Pathian is one of the last survivors of the era of Guitar Gods: let us hope that the stars are right for a resurrection.