Halo Of Dark Matter is Stoney Curtis’ fifth album and it is dark. It is filled with the in your face big rock guitar groove driven style that he is known for. The songs though explore some potentially depressing and melancholy subjects. Yet Stoney’s songwriting skills and impressive guitar talent don’t allow the pervading mood of the lyrical content to drag things down.

The self-centered nature of others is the message behind “Pure Greed,” which kicks this one off. From there things just get more pessimistic with “Grifter.” “Life In Odd Times” isn’t any more cheerful as he basically tells the listener that yep the “system is broke” and they “don’t want us around” and that you need to “stop feeling sorry for yourself” and that “this is life.” Stoney must have had an exceptionally bad time in a relationship when he wrote much of the material on this one. “I Can’t Live My Life This Way,” “Hard Livin’,” and the 10 minutes of the darkly moody “Deja Vu” all deal with broken relationships.

It’s not all dark on here. I even chuckle to myself as I type this, but I think “You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About” could be aimed at all of us who write critiques of other people’s work. “Ice Cold Beer” is a simple tribute to going out and tying one on to forget your troubles, while “7 Wonders Of My World” is the lone upbeat love song on this collection. The real surprise after all the full frontal kaleidoscopic guitar assault of the rest of the album is “Standing in the Shadows,” a slow ballad that seems to wrap everything up in a more positive mood as it fades away.

The title track, “Halo Of Dark Matter,” is probably one of the best written songs on this album. It combines a passionate guitar with melancholy lyrics that play off of each other so you can feel the desperate attempt to stop losing ground as he travels down the dark road.

Despite the gloomy subject matter of much of Halo Of Dark Matter it still manages to draw you in with Stoney’s psychedelic blues-rock passion. You have the feeling when listening to it that he is really trying to give you a glimpse into what underlies his dark lyrical content and impassioned guitar playing. by Kevin O’Rourke