Biyang: DS-9 Distortion

This is one of the later incarnations in Biyang's Tonefancier pedals, the DS-9. Managed to try it today:

• Overall tone mimics a modded BOSS DS-1 pedal (Monte Allum mod)
• Lots of distortion girth, substantial differences in tone compared to an aggressive overdrive in general
• A healthy distortion sweep from vintage blues to a punk bark
• Would have been better with a TONE knob included

Product availability: Standard Value

Fender: CBS-era headstock

I still find the CBS-era Fender headstock very unappealing; it somehow highlights the very asymmetrical outline of this design. The lame reason for the upsize according to CBS was to make the brand name more visible; it's like having a bigger billboard so your attraction is now magnified. Talking about putting guitar matters in the hands of non-enthusiasts...

Anyway, I do own a Strat with such headstock- ST72 (Jap) not that I finally forgive it for its sheer repulsion but the ST-72 proves to be a good playing & sweet sounding instrument regardless of how it looks like; I'm not too picky with looks these days. We should regard looks as secondary in terms of acquisition priority but too many people do not mind owning a good-looking guitar even if it's unplayable & croaking.

Keep of Kalessin: Kolossus

There's much hype surrounding Keep of Kalessin namely due to the former members in this band: Frost (Satyricon) & Atilla Csihar (Mayhem). Upon the departure of these black metal icons, many were left wondering if KOK could live up to proven performances.

But that should be the least of worries because band chief, Obsidian C, is virtually the heartbeat of this quartet, proven again in their latest release, Kolossus. This collection of songs are more intricate & necessitate slower tempo which fans of Armada (prior release) would cite as the chink in KOK's very structured armour. Despite black metal being synonymous with speed, we need to keep in mind the formula that works, regardless of the general consensus; bands like Carpathian Forest, Burzum, Dark Throne & Xasthur (among others) are proof enough. The technicalities in this album are quite the reason why Obsidian C is the hired hand for Satyricon live shows. Also, Vyl (drummer) displays a schooled technical performance throughout, to match the Nick Barker, Frost, Hellhammer, Emil Draguinovich in the industry.

Van Halen: Ibanez Destroyer

Back in time when bell-bottoms were about to make way for the skinnies, the Jap guitar manufacturers had a lucrative occupation- they were enjoying their fills as copycats. One of the more well known brand names in this notoriety is Ibanez, more so for their remarkable craftsmanship, which was about to knock off the genuine articles in their own turf, than their reputation for being mere blatant reproductions.

This scheme of things even caught the attention of one Edward Van Halen who took a liking for the manufacturer's interpretation (which possess negligible differences in essence) of Gibson's fabled Explorer guitar simply because the korina wood used sounded fantastic. However, one day, possibly under the influence of foul constellation alignment which conjured bad karma, the aforementioned Mr. Ed decided to give his Ibanez a creative touch by hacking off a substantial portion of the instrument beyond its bridge's hard tail. The entailment of this spur of inventiveness resulted in total annihilation of immaculate tones; it was a gonner.

The issue here is, how much wood is substantial for good tones to manifest? We know that there are guitars with lesser fibre in the body which sound great, we need not tread the Explorer excess to possess ear candy but it all boils down to the design per se. The Explorer was conceived in such an outline by the designer to give off great tone in view of the volume of wood used. Mess with this formula & the consequences might be dire (tone-wise) as discoved by EVH.

Gerald Veasley

One of the outstanding musicians I enjoy listening to is smooth jazz cat Gerald Veasley. He is one to take his time with what he wants to play. We are sometimes possessed with speed & technicalities to realize those are not the true measure of our music capacity. It's people like Mr. Veasley here who institutinalized thinking & feeling into music that it is kept alive to be understood & enjoyed by everyone- even if you have black metal flowing in your veins.

Aguynguerran

Aguynguerran is definitely quasi-mouthful but that's how it is with the black metal horde; pronunciation & commercial viability take back seats while deviance matters... I was attracted to this band not because it features Enthroned guitarist Nguaroth but the overall tone of their debut LP conjures Immortal's Blizzard Beasts- the guitar sounds choked but the midrange highlight is signature black metal.

The aforementioned Enthroned guitarist did well to incorporate riffing variance, particularly some punctuated bass note chugging (employed sparingly by guitarists of this music genre) in general. There were some catchy drumming in the works as well with very tasteful splash play. The only ingredient needing a refinement would be the solos; the guitarists of this ilk usually execute stacatto picking with loads of repetition hoping to get away with things but the guitar-inclined among us would know this is simply boring material in action. Nevertheless, PTNC is one of the better recordings Belgium has to offer, akin to giving a nudge to the Norwegian acts.