4.5 out of 5 Stars!

From Buffalo, New York, Gamalon was another obscure band (purely instrumental on its first two albums) that produced some outstanding material over the course of four studio releases in the late ’80s and ’90s.

The proficient rhythm section—brothers Tom Reinhardt on bass and Ted Reinhardt on drums—offers a solid, pumping, and occasionally funky foundation for stellar guitarists Bruce Brucato and George Puleo to go absolutely wild with awesome riffs and spirited leads. Indeed, Gamalon’s music typically consisted of frisky, spicy, and harder-edged Jazz-Fusion, a style that reminded me of material produced by artists such as Steve Morse (or Dixie Dregs), Jeff Beck (his solo Jazz-Rock material), Brand X, Liquid Tension Experiment, Stanley Clarke (thanks to Tom Reinhardt’s rollicking bass riffs), and even Jean-Luc Ponty (when a guest violinist pops up), or Passport (with the guest appearance by sax player Ernie Watts).

Therefore, Aerial View, Gamalon’s well-produced, all-instrumental second album, contains brilliant musicianship in the aforementioned styles. Whether on lively tracks such as “U.F.O.,” “Bleeker Street,” “Beat the Heat,” “The Lost Ghost,” or more mellower, mid-paced tunes such as “The Rift,” “Lena,” or “1969,” and especially on the impressive Prog-loaded title track, lovers of the genre are sure to find much to savor, especially those who delight in binary guitar interplay atop a masterful rhythm section.

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