If you were fortunate enough to catch The Steve Morse Band on its recently completed fall tour for Triangulation, you are already familiar with the first Steve Morse Band in several years. The band, which included ace guitarist Angel Vivaldi—who helped reproduce many of the duet parts on the new album—reminded fans of The Dregs and the SMB why Steve Morse is often listed as one of the best guitarists in the rock world.

For a man whose guitar has spoken volumes for nearly five decades, Triangulation feels like both a reckoning and a renewal. It’s the sound of an artist mapping out where he’s been, where he is, and where he still dares to go. This marks Morse’s first significant statement since stepping away from Deep Purple and facing personal loss, and what emerges is not simply virtuosity—it’s vulnerability rendered in six strings.

From the opening track, Morse, bassist Dave LaRue, and drummer Van Romaine operate like a single organism. Their interplay is precise yet organic, each riff and rhythmic twist part of a greater conversation. The music—an exhilarating blend of fusion, prog, blues, and chamber-rock flourishes—reminds listeners that Morse has never belonged to a single genre, only to the pursuit of melody and truth.

“Taken by an Angel,” written in memory of Morse’s late wife Janine, is the album’s emotional apex—aching, melodic, and reverent without sentimentality. His son Kevin joins him here, and the result is all heart: grief transmuted into melody, sorrow into sustain.

Tracks like “The Unexpected” prove how symphonic Morse can get without a conductor. One minute you’re in an Appalachian string duet; the next, a deep-space jam where the bass acts like a gravitational field. “Tumeni Partz” recalls his 1989 classic “Tumeni Notes,” except now the notes have unionized, elected a new steward, and taken over the factory. It’s a wink and a flex at once—proof that the man still plays circles around circular logic.

Elsewhere, the title track featuring John Petrucci and “Tumeni Partz” pushes his technical imagination into overdrive, while “The Unexpected” reaffirms his gift for cinematic composition.

Texas guitar ace Eric Johnson provides a complementary tone and vigor to Morse on “TexUs.” The high-powered guests are used sparingly, never overshadowing Morse’s vision and execution.

With Triangulation, Morse doesn’t just reclaim his musical voice—he redefines it. It’s an album of grace, grief, and unrestrained guitar glory, proving that even in life’s hardest recalibrations, Steve Morse’s compass still points true north. Not just a guitar record. Not just a Steve Morse record. Triangulation sounds like closure on grief, clarity in sound, and pure forward motion.