Tone: Sustain

If the idea of six guitarists playing together for an entire album seems like an audio trainwreck waiting to happen, put that notion aside. Tone is an instrumental "guitar ensemble" made up of D.C. regulars like Phil (Unrest) Krauth, Geordie (Teen Idles) Grindle, and Mitch (Government Issue) Parker. Rather than trying to outshine each other—or worse yet, take turns so every player can have a ghastly Steve Vai-esque solo on which to shine—the music on Sustain is orchestrated in such a way that no one performer stands apart. Surf, spy, flamenco, indie and other styles are incorporated and woven together to bring forth a rich sound. Sometimes, the result is transcendental, as on the soothing "Augmented" or the tightly wound "Fate." Often, though, good themes are merely touched upon and repeated at length with results that are less than spectacular. Sustain contains about a 50-50 split of great/mediocre material, and those are pretty good odds.