Em... to some of us who really require potent stage presence (we admit our limited technical capacity...), having crystals on our instruments would be the answer.
The blingin' Gibson Flying V above sports Swarovski crystals, made possible by CrystalRoc. Apparently, the company's clients include Elton John, Kylie Minogue & George Michael, among others. They will not have me on the list, of course...
Was @ Swee Lee yesterday, good to see the new Ibanez PGM401 available here.
Interested parties need to note the neck-body joint of this guitar- it is NOT the all-access version, rather the traditional blocky make of the '80s guitars.
The Ibanez XP300 is now available in red but not permanently, the manufacturer says it's a 2009 limited edition finish... Hope it comes around.
...so Gibson isn't the only manufacturer to have a singlecut design in silverburst finish. Pic above: Ibanez ART120.
Selected Ibanez Toneblaster (above: TBX65RDRD) amps now comes in the above depicted dragon skin upholstery... expect some flame-spitting drivers as well. Yeah, right.
That's Les Paul to many of us. This update is a little late but it's important to me. Les Paul died on 13th August from complications of severe pneumonia. When I heard this news, I was in the cab on the way home with my darling. Brian Richmond was on duty & it was GOLD 90FM...
Just finished listening to Endstille's latest, Verfuhrer. You won't like this band, the guitars are nothing but a drone generator, imagine the sound of a swarm of killer hornets while you get your band going- amplified, that is. However, this is my kinda band, the guitars aren't compelled to manifest any technicalities, they just get the music going appropriately; relentless anger.
If you've been around for quite some time in the guitar scene, you'd recall the above Ibanez VH10V2 Wah pedal made available in the late '80s/ early '90s (when Swee Lee was still located @ Plaza S'pura, Kramer guitars in the display window- those were the days). The thought of getting one did cross my mind but it featured a plastic housing. The current reissue version sports a metal structure & would address the durability issue, so once it debuts here, I might give it a try...
Davis is currently having a price slash for selected Marshall amps; the MG10CD you see above is now going for $105...
Stop rubbing your eyes. Yes, those are red & yellow strings in my Ibanez RGR08. I have some boxes of coated DR strings at home- wonder if a combination of colours in the same guitar would make me play better. Hmm...
Korean string manufacturer, Tone Drive, is rather instrumental (forgive the pun) in preserving string life while they remain in the package. As evident above, individual plastic wraps ensure string freshness but I feel guilty having to throw these away, the paper version of other string brands- these I can dispose into the neighbourhood recycling bin on my way to work...
The duo behind Anaal Nathrakh are Mick Kenney (Irrumator) & Dave Hunt (VITRIOL). This menacing pair is perhaps England's most hardworking musicians & intense music's most productive minds- an album a year work rate is hard to beat considering these guys play everything themselves as well as taking care of production duties. Well, you'd argue it's not that impressive since these chaps don't do live performances. We have Dark Throne to refer to in this light...
In The Constellation of the Black Widow offers 10 intense tracks, typical of AN but the tunes are moulded in the likes of what Domine Non Es Dignus had to offer; songs are black metal in essence but the grindcore elements are more audible in the mix. In this release expecially, be prepared to hear more clean vocals & passing phrases quite in the flavour of Dragonforce (em... it's a unique passing, not recurring, mind you).
The most likely highlight of this band is probably the drummer; Emil Dragutinovic used to bash skins for the legendary Marduk. If you listen to all of TL's releases, you'd know the standard. However, it's not fair to credit this band purely on the drummer per se, TL has been one of the newer cohort of black metal's better offerings in terms of musicianship & production (if you are kvlt & troo, you'd disagree with me but music is music, culture is part of music, it's not exclusive...).
