Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2022 i Guitar World

MICK WRONGSON IT’S SAFE TO say our Eighties Issue [August 2022] was popular — at the newsstand and when some of its features hit GuitarWorld.com once the issue was off newsstands. Apparently (and as we’ve long suspected), an impressive number of “guitar people” love reading about Warren DeMartini, Vito Bratta and Rudolph Schenker’s takes on the Eighties. So let me ask you: Who — from that era — would you like to see covered next in GW? Simple question. Let us know! And don’t worry — we already have some ideas in the works… TWO DIFFERENT COVERS THIS MONTH: Like the subhead says, there are two different covers this month — Slipknot and Lamb of God. Collect all two! SPEAKING OF LAMB OF GOD: Late in the production cycle for…

TUNE-UPS NEWS + NOTES LEPROUS GUITARIST TOR Oddmund Suhrke makes magic with his hands. This much is clear through over 20 dynamic years with the Norwegian prog outfit — from the metallic riff-play of their earliest efforts, to Suhrke’s gracefully low-gain approach on 2021’s Aphelion. Up until this summer, he’d also been doubling as a professional physiotherapist ably kneading out the aches of a steady clientele — some of which are within Leprous’ ranks. “I feel like every tour I’m on, suddenly I’m massaging someone’s ass,” Suhrke says with a laugh, of relieving his bandmates’ lower back pain. Surprisingly, Suhrke’s role as a physiotherapist hadn’t guided him toward a discipline of wrist-maintaining pre-show exercises. “You might think the opposite, like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m very careful about my routines,’ but I’ve…

“FREDRIK IS THE MAD GUITAR GENIUS. SO FOR HIM TO COME BACK WAS NATURAL AND MADE ME WANT TO GO ON WITH IT, TOO”—MÅRTEN HAGSTRÖM WHEN THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic shut down the music industry in 2020, Swedish technical, experimental death metal band Meshuggah only had two tours left for their 2016 album The Violent Sleep of Reason. They were pretty much already scheduled to return to writing mode for what would turn out to be Immutable. But there were other obstacles, aside from Covid, that left the future of the band in jeopardy. The cracks in the Meshuggah fortress appeared gradually and were largely due to co-founding guitarist Fredrik Thordendal’s waning interest in the band. Back in 1996, he started working on the side project Fredrik Thordendal’s Special Defects, and…

“IT WAS REAL OLD-SCHOOL ROCK ’N’ ROLL, MAN. JUST THE WHOLE BAND IN THERE, GETTING MIC’D UP”—WILLIE ADLER FROM THEIR NASCENT days in the early aughts to the present day, Lamb of God have been a consistently breathtaking live band. In addition to featuring one of the most volatile, energetic frontmen, Randy Blythe, the quintet is exceptionally tight, and their post-thrash songs are technical, yet accessible, propelled by the complementary, but stylistically different, tones and playing styles of guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler. Having toured steadily since 1994, they finessed their chemistry on the road, retaining their following and gaining new acolytes on package tours and at countless headline shows. Realizing their strong stage presence was a major selling point, Lamb of God released three live DVDs, Terror and…

“GUITARS WERE DEPRESSING ME. EVERYTHING WAS DEPRESSING ME”—JIM ROOT FOR MANY BANDS THAT wrote albums during the pandemic lockdown, having extra time to compose and experiment was a bittersweet bonus. It allowed them to try new techniques, then revisit and fine-tune songs months after they were first tracked. Artists had the flexibility to upgrade their home studios and record in multiple locations. Fiddling while Rome burned provided a temporary escape from a decaying world and an outlet to funnel their anger and frustration. All good things in a tragic and frightening time. Listening to Slipknot’s seventh studio album, The End, So Far, suggests the nine-piece wrecking machine benefited from such a chance to explore a wide range of musical options, from moody and melodic elegies to vicious and chaotic tirades.…

FENDER DESCRIBES THEIR new Hammertone pedals as “no-nonsense stompbox effect(s).” And bless their hearts. If there’s anything I love hearing, it’s when I receive gear that tells me it’s uncomplicated and practical. Compared to their superb “bigger-boxed” pedal range, Fender got savvy by introducing a compact and easy-to-use pedal series that spans the classic staples of Overdrive, Distortion, Fuzz, Chorus, Delay, Reverb, Fuzz, Metal, Chorus and Space Delay — guitar effects that are not only indispensable, but now wallet-friendly. I got a chance to bang on two of them — the Hammertone Overdrive and Distortion. Designed by Stan Cotey, who has been the architect for Fender’s aforementioned and noteworthy effects line, Hammertone are entry-level pedals with simple control layouts, smaller anodized aluminium chassis and rugged designs. Both the Overdrive and…

For video of this lesson, go to guitarworld.com/november2022 THIS MONTH, I’D like to discuss the beauty, and the importance, of string bending. String bending is truly a huge part of the guitar’s potential to be one of the most expressive instruments. Well-controlled string bending, and string bending with vibrato, will really make your melodies sing. All examples here relate to the key of C# minor. FIGURE 1 begins with a 9th-position C#m barre chord, followed by the C# minor pentatonic scale in the same position, in ascending and descending form and with a little bit of scalar improvisation added. The first bend of focus is a B note, located at the 12th fret on the B string, bent up one whole step to C#. I use my ring finger to…

STAY CONNECTED WITH GUITAR WORLD ON Thanks for the Eighties Issue! I just finished reading some of “the Eighties Issue” [August 2022] and I have to say it’s completely awesome. Thanks for doing this issue! It’s great to hear from some of these iconic players, especially Vito Bratta. You guys need to keep [in] contact with him and help him push out some material. Start up a crowd funder — I’m good to chip in! I love the Q&A format with the horde of guitar stars. It’s really interesting to even see what their favorite Eighties movies were, let alone gear and solos. Reading this makes me want to go and hunt down a Marshall JCM800. I’ve got the 900 and the DSL heads, but to be true to the…

60 MINUTES with JAMES “MUNKY” SHAFFER “I LOOKED THROUGH my library of songs, and I thought, Man, how can I not live with all of this!” says Korn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer with a laugh. “Music’s so important to me and has gotten me through so many hard times, and good times as well. I make playlists … I made playlists for my wedding and the reception, and for when my children were born. The doctor let me play songs in the delivery room … But I narrowed this list down to ‘why I play music’ and some of the more important guitar-driven songs. And it’s still hard! [Laughs] … And these are in no particular order. It would take me a week to put these in order!” “CAFFEINE” Faith…

“YOU’RE NOT COMPETING AGAINST OTHER BANDS.... YOU’RE COMPETING AGAINST YOUR GUITAR-PLAYING SKILLS FROM A YEAR AGO, OR 10 YEARS AGO”—ROBB FLYNN IT’S A GOOD THING Machine Head founder Robb Flynn has the gift of the gab. When Guitar World catches the Bay Area metal veteran over Zoom, he’s sitting in his home studio, seven hours deep into a hefty day of promo surrounding his band’s 10th full-length, Of Kingdom and Crown. As it stands, he’s supremely amped to get into the details of the album — which further expands Machine Head’s propensity for ground-fracking grooves, harmonic-accented madness and darkly melodic hooks — but he also admits up front that he’s more than ready to shift the focus off of himself, at least for a bit. You see, on top of…

WHEN ASKED IF THEY HAVE new signature models on the way, Lamb of God guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler both seem a bit surprised. “That’s a good question, man,” Adler says after a brief pause. “I do not have a new signature — and it’s about time, right? I need to call my dude and be like, ‘Come on, man. Make me something cool again.’” Morton’s reaction is similar, though he hints he may have something in the works. Regardless, both guitarists are comfortable with their rigs and have been with the same companies for years (Adler is endorsed by ESP, Morton by Jackson). Onstage and for Omens, Adler favored ESP USA models with Fishman Fluence humbuckers (“Most recently I got this purple beast that is unbelievably cool.”) Morton…

ONE OF THE reasons The End, So Far bristles with galvanic energy and impulsivity is that guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson dove deep into the experimental wormhole with co-producer Joe Baressi. To create powerful songs, they experimented with so many combinations of amps, cabinets, guitars, pedals and other forms of sound modulation that they could barely recognize their attack tones and atmospheric flourishes, let alone recreate them. On the road, however, whether they’re playing new material or songs from their catalog, Slipknot meticulously keep track of what guitars they need to cut through the percussive clamor of the band and achieve maximal punch. For a long time, Root has relied largely on Fender, a relationship he began in 2009 with the Jim Root Signature Telecaster. He immediately started using…

YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD the saying, “The definition of ‘insanity’ is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” And while this notion is consistently true for many common-sense things, it appears this doesn’t apply to the insane amount of Superstrat designs being churned out year after year. Without sounding cynical, I’m always floored as to how guitar builders have been able to turn the idea of a Superstrat “over and over again” on its head with undeniably impressive results. This is very much how I felt upon seeing the LTD Deluxe SN-1000HT Fire Blast, part of ESP Guitars' “New for 2022” collection of instruments. As a certifiable Superstrat addict, I requested this guitar because of its intense looks, so yes, I totally “judged a book by…

For video of this lesson, go to guitarworld.com/november2022 LAST MONTH, I introduced the basic elements that make up Muddy Waters’ approach to the types of rhythm parts, licks and melodic lines that he plays on his classic track, “Rollin’ Stone.” This month, I’ll present more ways to branch out from those basic elements to generate new phrases and melodic ideas. The things Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Winter added in their incredible recordings of the song influence some of the different variables that comprise my approach to playing it. Both Jimi and Johnny had studied Muddy’s records meticulously; in other words, they could speak the language of “Muddy” fluently and with absolute musical freedom. The purely improvisational nature of their approach will inspire you to try to do the same. For…

For video of this lesson, go to guitarworld.com/november2022 OVER THE LAST two columns, we’ve been looking at my tune “Triple J Hoedown,” specifically the live version, from my album Live at the Spud, recorded at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles. We’ve made it all the way up to the solo section (at least my solo)! This month, I’d like to walk you through my approach to the first part of my solo section. The solo begins in a very “open” way, and, in fact, part of it features just drummer Gary Novak and myself. In that way, it's “open,” in the sense that there’s no specific harmony to adhere to, as there’s no keyboard player or even a bass line to suggest chord changes. This “openness” allows me great…

“DEAD MAN’S CURVE” WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN OSBORNE, LEE MILLER AND THOMAS OSBORNE. © 2020 WC MUSIC CORP., ALL THE KING’S PENS, SONGSTEIN PUBLISHING, TRAMPY MCCAULEY, WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. AND THE COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC. ALL RIGHTS FOR ALL THE KING’S PENS, SONGSTEIN PUBLISHING AND TRAMPY MCCAULEY ADMINISTERED BY WC MUSIC CORP. ALL RIGHTS FOR THE COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC ADMINISTERED BY WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF HAL LEONARD LLC.…

“I LIKE DEATH metal to be brutal and fast, so I usually write those kinds of tracks.” Bloodbath guitarist Tomas Åkvik is matter-of-factly getting into why his three compositions on the long-running death metal supergroup’s new Survival of the Sickest full-length (“Zombie Inferno,” “Malignant Maggot Therapy” and “Environcide”) arguably push the speed-barrier more so than his bandmates’ nevertheless grotesque contributions. “I’m a raging person,” he chuckles when Guitar World presses him on the point. What’s most surprising about this ferociously paced feat, though, is that Åkvik even brought the songs to Bloodbath in the first place. While the Swedish guitarist has been riffing with Bloodbath as their live guitarist for more than five years, when the group formally asked him to join full-time — following the 2017 exit of Per…

EVERYONE KNOWS HOW to write the blues. String together a I-IV-V chord progression, doodle on the minor pentatonic, cobble together some lyrics about how your baby left you and maybe throw in a line about a train or whiskey if you’re feeling frisky. It’s tried, true and — some would argue — very much stuck in the past. That’s why Kirk Fletcher wanted to stretch out. The writing process for his new album, Heartache by the Pound, saw the L.A.-born musician trying new things in an effort to invigorate his take on a genre that too often gets stuck on the same old tropes. “When you listen to old blues records by Muddy Waters or Albert King, there’s really cool songwriting,” he says. “These days, the attention to detail on…

NEURAL DSP ARCHETYPE: PETRUCCI $170, neuraldsp.com It’d be fair to say the announcement of John Petrucci teaming up with Neural DSP last year for his own Archetype plug-in came as a bit of a surprise. The Dream Theater guitarist has remained fiercely loyal to Mesa/Boogie amps since the band’s early days and is known for more of an old-school approach when it comes to his rig, although he clearly must’ve been impressed by the company’s collaborations with artists like Gojira, Tosin Abasi and Plini in recent years. “If I’m going to have my name on it, it can’t be a toy, it has to be the real deal,” said Petrucci at the time, explaining how the signature plug-in needed to cover “all my requirements as far as tone and features”…

1991Machine Head form in Oakland while Robb Flynn is still a member of Vio-lence. Bassist Adam Duce and guitarist Logan Mader are friends of Robb’s roommate. 1993Machine Head sign to Roadrunner on the strength of their first demo. They finish writing songs for Burn My Eyes and hit the studio with producer Colin Richardson (Fear Factory/Carcass). 1994Burn My Eyes is released in August. It receives great reviews and is an instant success, particularly in the U.K. and Europe. 1995After supporting Slayer across the continent, Machine Head return to the U.K. as headliners. Meanwhile, drummer Chris Kontos departs and is replaced by ex-Sacred Reich man Dave McClain. 1997Second album The More Things Change… is released and hits No. 16 in the U.K. 1998Logan Mader quits the band and is replaced by…

“WE WANTED TO GIVE ‘NEVERMORE’ A DIFFERENT KIND OF SWAGGER THAN OUR TYPICAL 12/8”—MARK MORTON For video of this lesson, go to guitarworld.com/november2022 GET THE SOUND CHANNEL DISTORTION Morton plays his signature Jackson Dominion and Adler an ESP, both through a variety of Mesa/Boogie amps. Although the tone is high gain, the low end is tight and the mids are very present, giving the notes a precise and quick attack that punches through the mix. You’ll need to tune to drop-C (low to high: C, G, C, F, A, D). If you usually keep your guitar in standard tuning, you’ll need to use a set of strings that are a gauge or two heavier than your usual set, or, alternatively, practice the riff in drop-D tuning (low to high: D,…

ON ALBUM AND onstage, Slipknot guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson work together as a team. Both play rhythm and lead tracks, and both feed off the energy and excitement of the other’s musicianship. They also equally enjoy a dizzying variety of textural passages and rib-kicking riffs. So, amid the firestorm of barrelling beats, pummelling percussion, screeching samples, DJ scratching and vocal acrobatics, how can you tell if a guitar part you’re hearing is coming from Root or Thomson? The easiest way is to pay attention to which direction the sound is coming from (this is easily accomplished with headphones). Root’s parts are always in the left part of the stereo mix and Thomson’s are always on the right. The same goes for their live shows. But what if the…

For video of this lesson, go to guitarworld.com/november2022 NEXT YEAR MARKS the 20th anniversary of the release of an album that is still my biggest seller, Blues Deluxe, which was when I was a wee 26 years old. The album is a collection of cover songs and also includes four original compositions, including the track “Woke Up Dreaming,” which, to this day, I still perform at almost every show. I thought it would be cool to revisit the approach I used for that album to record what will soon be released as Blues Deluxe, Vol. 2. I’ve recorded a whole new batch of cover material for this record. We did some Bobby “Blue” Bland stuff, a couple of Fleetwood Mac songs (from the original Peter Green incarnation), plus some Bobby…

“2112/OVERTURE” Rush THE OPENING SECTION of this magnum opus that kicks off Rush’s breakthrough 1976 concept album, 2112, showcases the great Canadian prog-rock power trio of guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist-vocalist Geddy Lee and drummer-lyricist Neil Peart soaring to a new creative height, with a brilliantly conceived and arranged classical-like ensemble fanfare that ushers in an epic suite of thematically related songs, our transcription comprising the first two. Perhaps the biggest challenge in performing this piece is nailing the tight ensemble chord hits during the intro, which are phrased in a series of precise eighth-note syncopations. Although it’s possible to just look to the tabs for Lifeson’s chord fingerings and memorize and perform the rhythms by ear, additionally relying on eye contact with your bandmates to synchronize your collective performance, a…

THE MXR DYNA Comp wasn’t the first compressor pedal on the market — the Maestro SS-1 Sustainer and Electro-Harmonix Black Finger preceded it by a few years — but it was certainly the first to be embraced by a wide variety of professional players who helped it become a standard, essential item in many guitarists’ rigs for nearly five decades. Designed to provide live performers with a low-cost alternative to the expensive and bulky rack-mount compressors used in the studio, the Dyna Comp can provide a smooth, professional polish to one’s sound, but it also can deliver special effects with their own distinctive “squashed” sonic fingerprint. The Dyna Comp’s relatively simple circuit employs Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) compression, which provides a fast attack and relatively slow decay and release that…