These are the 25 guitar artists you need to hear this year, according to Fender
Wet Leg, Claud and The Linda Lindas all feature in the Fender Next Class of 2022
Read more »
Boss Introduces the RE-202 and RE-2 Space Echo Pedals
Two new pedals by Boss based on the legendary Roland RE-201 Space Echo from the ’70s and ’80s.The RE-202 is an advanced pedal with three foot-switches and extended features, while the RE-2 offers core Space Echo features in a classic BOSS compact pedal. Known for its distinctive rhythmic echo sounds, warm character, and highly playable sonic quirks, the tape-based RE-201 continues to inspire musicians, producers, and audio mixers. Backed by intensive R&D and the latest BOSS innovations, the RE-202 and RE-2 capture the original Space Echo sound and behavior.RE-202 Space EchoThe RE-202 delivers the full vintage vibe of the RE-201—without the need for regular tape replacement and hardware maintenance. All the core controls of the original are here, including the iconic 12-position mode selector. Every behavior is replicated with complete accuracy, such as the gradual pitch change that occurs when the Repeat Rate knob is tweaked, or the cool runaway feedback that happens when the Intensity knob is maxed.With selectable tape age and variable controls, users can dial in everything from a brand-new Space Echo to the worn character and quirks of a well-loved vintage piece. The Saturation control introduces warmth and compression based on the actual magnetic tape and preamp behaviors of the RE-201, while the Wow & Flutter control provides all the natural modulation characteristics that are essential to the Space Echo sound.BOSS RE-202 Space Echo | The Next Generation of Space EchoRE-2 Space EchoThe RE-2 squeezes the complete sonic character of the RE-201 into the famous BOSS compact pedal format for the first time. An 11-position mode selector provides access to three virtual tape heads with or without spring reverb, and users can balance the echo/reverb blend with independent level knobs. The RE-2 also offers powerful features such as Wow & Flutter control, extended delay time, selectable carryover, stereo I/O, tap tempo, external control support, and more.BOSS RE-2 Space Echo | Authentic Space Echo in a Compact PedalThe BOSS RE-202 and RE-2 Space Echo pedals are available in the U.S. for $399.99 and $249.99, respectively.To learn more about the RE-202 and RE-2 Space Echo pedals, visit www.boss.info.
Read more »Video Premiere: THROES – ‘Fang’
We’re not gonna give away the ending of this new video by Idaho quintet THROES, but it will only take you about 90 seconds to figure out the twist in the chaotic “Fang.”
The post Video Premiere: THROES – ‘Fang’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.
ALBUM REVIEW: Dread Reaver – Abbath
Many still rue the unfortunate events which befell his departure from black metal icons IMMORTAL, but what ABBATH has achieved on his solo jaunt thus far is quite remarkable. He has worn…
Read more »Primitive Origins: Lucifer’s Friend’s ‘Lucifer’s Friend’
Diving into Lucifer’s Friend’s 1970 self-titled debut to see if the proto-metal holds up.
The post Primitive Origins: Lucifer’s Friend’s ‘Lucifer’s Friend’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.
Glenn Tipton looks back at 50 years of triumph and tragedy in Judas Priest
The guitar icon unpacks the legacy of a band that helped define heavy metal as we know it, opens up on the rift with K.K. Downing and reveals how punk gave them a kick up the backside
Read more »
Ex-MEGADETH Bassist DAVID ELLEFSON To Perform At Homecoming Event In Jackson, Minnesota
Ex-MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson will perform in his former hometown of Jackson, Minnesota during this summer’s Jackson County Fair. The homecoming event is scheduled to take place on Friday, July 29 at 6 p.m. David will talk about his rock and roll journey before the races at Jackson Motorplex and will reunite with his high school bandmates from TOZ after the races.
Ellefson said in a statement: “I’m excited to make a return and visit my hometown of Jackson, Minnesota and especially for one of the most celebrated events which is the Jackson County Fair and stock car races. I look forward to giving praise up close and personal talk about my rock and roll journey which all began in Jackson and many of the ballrooms in night spots in the area. Just as much, I’ll be reuniting to jam some classic songs with my friends and bandmates of the group TOZ, a band that we formed as middle and high school students in Jackson back in the early ’80s. Music is all about connection and it’s great to be reconnecting with my lifelong friends that from Jackson.”
Tickets will be $10 in advance or $15 at the gate.
Ellefson left Jackson in the early ’80s to move to Los Angeles, where he met former METALLICA guitarist Dave Mustaine, and the pair co-founded multi-platinum, Grammy-winning hard rock act MEGADETH, going on to become one of the “Big Four” of thrash metal. Ellefson’s smalltown Jackson roots have been immortalized in MEGADETH lore as the subject of classic songs including the smash hit “Foreclosure Of A Dream” and the underground classic “Mary Jane”.
Ellefson, who has lived in Scottsdale, Arizona since 1994, was fired from MEGADETH last May, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter. At the time, Ellefson released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he “groomed” an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of him by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual “masturbating encounters” without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.)
David, a Christian who launched the Mega Life Ministries worship group in 2007, studied for a year at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis a decade ago.
Last October, Ellefson told SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that there is a perception that people of faith must set a higher standard of how they live with and treat others. “It’s almost like you’re this entity that’s floating up toward the heavens: ‘Oh, he’s such a wonderful man. He’s a man of faith. He’s got his family. And then this happens.’ It’s, like, ‘What the hell is this?'” he said.
“I mean, look, admittedly I’ve sort of trained the public to think that I’m one of the more well-behaved rock stars out there, and for the most part I have been,” he continued. “But at the same time, and this isn’t to claim anything other than just, oops, shit happens. That is what it is.”
Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.
In July, Mustaine addressed the possibility of Ellefson returning to MEGADETH while filming one of his own video messages on Cameo. Asked by Rock Feed if Ellefson could once again play with MEGADETH at some point down the line, Mustaine said: “Any chance on Ellefson coming back later on? The answer to that is no.”
Read more »
Metallica will bring 7 historic live albums and documentaries to the Coda Collection this spring
Titles include the band’s 1998 live album Cunning Stunts, the Black Album-documenting A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, and Français Pour Une Nuit, which showcases the band’s historic 2009 performance in Nîmes
Read more »
Beabadoobee returns with scuzzy new single Talk and announces second album, Beatopia
The Fender Mustang-toting indie-rocker’s new full-length arrives on July 15
Read more »
I Am The Void – EUCHARIST
Generally mentioned only as a footnote to the grand history of Scandinavian extreme metal, EUCHARIST released two seriously great albums in the ’90s and have scarcely been seen since. 25 years have passed since “Mirrorworlds”, an unsung benchmark for blackened, blasphemous melo-death, and band mastermind Markus Johnsson has made the sensible decision to not stray too far from that winning formula on EUCHARIST’s long-awaited third album. The real surprise about “I Am the Void” is how much further into black metal territory they have travelled. There are certainly plenty of riffs and hooks that hark back to those formative years in the Swedish death metal scene, but this is a much more epic, ambitious and cold-hearted record than either of its predecessors. EUCHARIST were always hell-bent on unholiness, but thanks to a combination of improved musicianship and a refined vision (presumably) crafted over a quarter of a century, their 2022 incarnation hits with a vehemence and conviction that swiftly obliterates anything that went before.
Effectively a double album, “I Am the Void” has plenty of dynamic moments, but its primary focus is on eviscerating everything in sight with maximum, unholy spite, for 70 feverish minutes. Opener “Shadows” begins with a suppurating synth drone, before the first of countless, heroically evil riffs take things straight to fast-as-fuck Hell. EUCHARIST always sounded rabid and uncompromising, but the years have hardened this band’s outlook to the point where everything they play sounds like all-out war, Johnsson’s vocals dripping with vitriol throughout. Songs like “‘Queen of Hades” and “In the Blaze of the Blood Red Moon” bristle with old-school animosity, but a glut of atmospheric heft adds mystery and depth to what could otherwise be wall-to-wall, profane blast-worship.
As “I Am the Void” progresses, the songs become more ambitious, and the prospect of an even more compelling future incarnation rears its head. The episodic, grandiose battery of “In the Heart of Infinity” is particularly stunning; while the title track’s imperious march through howling storms of windswept and grandiose black metal scree amounts to the finest ten minutes in EUCHARIST’s stop-start history.
Like being flattened by a giant, blasphemous bulldozer for an hour and ten minutes, “I Am the Void” heralds the return of a truly great band and another rusty spike thrust into the eye of Christ. No downsides here, folks.
Read more »