The Guitar Player's Resource
Truly talented and compositionally gifted are two phrases which describe Swedish guitarist Christian Alsing, who sent his six song CD-R demo entitled Aggro for review. Alsing favors creative and unexpected rhythm guitar work, ripping, shred-worthy leads, and a healthy dose of humor (the track "Don't Ask..." could be an ode to cartoon sound effects). This makes his tracks stand up under repeated listenings, as you can hear new things with every spin through the CD player. You'll hear interesting backwards-style guitar and rapid, off-kilter lines, as well as plenty of outlandish playing that almost defies description. All six tracks on the demo are absolute dynamite, so any full-length CD put out by Alsing in the future would be recommended for immediate purchase - it's that good.
Christian is currently 20 years of age, and has been playing guitar for about eight years. He recently finished studying music for the past three years and has been working as a guitar technician, guitar teacher and sound engineer since then. Christian counts Ron Thal as one of his biggest influences, and looks to Astor Piazzolla and Frank Zappa for melodic inspiration. He also enjoys the music of Mattias 'IA' Eklundh and Dave Marton - musicians that combine good guitar playing with writing good music.
Alsing has a goal of making a living as a musician, and in the meantime is willing to take any job related to music - it's the only way for him to keep his mental health!
Christian Alsing
Sweden