On first listen, what really sticks out in SB2 (named after the squarish scout ships his characters pilot) is that the playing first-rate and the production values are remarkably high. Dorn's a guitarist first—"Angus Young of AC/DC and Slash of Guns N' Roses had a great deal to do with the foundation of my guitar playing," he says—but he's got a sure hand on the drums and plays decent keyboards. Dorn explains, "I had a few lessons in engineering before I really got going on my own, but they were extremely limited. Most of what I do has been learned through years of listening to music, experimentation, and trial and error." The time has been well spent.

SB2 is being released in several installments. This one, "Prologue," tells the story of a crash-landing on an uncharted planet. While exploring their new home, the two surviving crewmen encounter hostile aliens who have been terrified by the UFO landing in their territory.

"The project came about in a couple of different ways," Dorn says. "Mostly, I have just always loved the sci-fi genre and music. However, with a lot of music, I found that I could never get as emotionally invested as I could with films and books. I think the reason is that with a story, I go through what the characters go through; I develop with them."

But with SB2 and the story of Second Pilot Rax Will's fight for survival, Dorn found inspiration. He's now rehearsing a band to perform sections of the work live.

A treat for power-rock fans

But what's the music like? Well, it's good, hard rock. See those influences up there? But the impressive thing about the music on this CD is Dorn's control. He knows how to use silence, and he doesn't just flail away on the guitar to the detriment of the other instrumentation.

The second tune, "Crash Landing," opens with a nice little drums figure. The production on this disk tends to be drier than that of a lot of one-man-show musicians, and it gives more of an immediate feel to things. Dorn cuts loose on the guitar for the first time at about 1:15 into the track, really ripping the place up. This is a short track, just under two minutes, and an instrumental work, as are several of the other cuts here.

Track 3, "UFO," is from the point of view of the inhabitants of the alien world as they watch Rax's ship landing. The next track is "First Breath on a New Planet," and it's the first ballad on the disk, rather darkly elegiac in tone.

Band 6, "Killing Alfred," my favorite cut on the disk, is an instrumental, slower and with sinuous guitar sparking its swampy groove. The drums are particularly well produced on this one. Then, about 1:23 in, Dorn does something interesting and unexpected with the guitar, a sort of Pete Townshend flick-the-pickup-off-and-on thing. It's this sort of experimentation that makes listening to SB2 such a rewarding experience.

My one complaint with SB2 is that occasionally Dorn buries his vocals in the mix. This is a pity, because he sings pretty well. His phrasing is admirable, and although he's not doing any crooning here, he offers up serviceable melodies without much larynx-ripping screaming. I'd like to hear some harmonies, too ... he only ever allows one voice.

But there's room for growth, because Dorn won't be through with Rax anytime soon. When asked how long he foresees the tale being, he says, "I would guess the story will be around 20 albums in length." If he completes this ambitious undertaking, it'll be an achievement unparalleled in rock music.