Like his bandmate's effort, Jeff Loomis sounds painfully alone on this one. In part it's down to _Zero Order Phase_ being an instrumental album; for the majority of the record, you can't help but expect Warrel to break out in his trademark falsetto. This is aggravated by songs like "Shouting Fire at a Funeral" and "Race Against Disaster" sounding quite like they could have been scratch tracks to a Nevermore album, give or take a handful of extra guitar solos. Thus it's not even a case of _Zero Order Phase_ outright sucking. In fact, for the patient listener there's a fair bit to sink your teeth into here. Personally though, I'd just as soon hold my breath for the next Nevermore and forget that either of these releases ever saw the light of day.