DIME~Explosion Razorback

You get guitars and you get GUITARS.The DIME~Explosion Razorback is a GUITAR.Good ol’ Karu was kind enough to let me have a go at his one and only,already “sold”,Explosion Razorback.

Set neck joint,joining the Mahogany neck and body+Dimebucker Bridge Pickup=infinite resonance.

No problems about that,sustain is an understatement.You can go on stage,strike that brutal power-chord and stare at the crowd with wide open eyes as if something was very wrong and nod your head.By the time the other guitarist comes with their guitar tuned,you’ll be still nodding to the echo of the power chord you struck a minute ago.The 22 fret rosewood finger board is a feast on the eye.Shred,lick,riff….do whatever you want,with a fingerboard like this,playing can’t be anything but smooth.Licensed double-locking Floyd Rose Tremolo,Dimebucker Bridge pickups(as mentioned) are nothing but an invitation to crank up 10 on your amp.

Attitude and Impression?Don’t ask.Seeing is believing,explosion graphics,the legendary DEAN headstock,12th fret Razor inlay,they all shout “Heavy Metal”.I mean,it was designed by “the man” so what more do you want?Oh!You don’t know “the man”?If you don’t know Dimebag Darrell,you don’t know metal.

If you still doubt this is “THE” Guitar,well listen to what Total Guitar,the magazine had to say;“This is the greatest metal guitar of all time”.

You heard it all loud and clear;”the greatest guitar”.

\m/

Expecting….War Without End-Warbringer

“Thrash or be thrashed!!!” says Warbringer.Let’s not beat around the bush,you better thrash or else….well,you read what this band has to say,you’ll be thrashed!!!

First they made an appearance on “Thrashing like a maniac-16 ripping cuts of new school thrash”(“One hell of a soundtrack to grow your hair too!!!”-Kerrang),then an EP that shouted out loud “We are a thrash metal  band,we rule!!!”,now they’re touring the U.S with Exodus,Goatwhore and Arsis.Is there anything else a rising thrash metal band can do?Yes,they can release an album titled “War without end”!!!

Warbringer is a California based thrash metal band,formed in 2004.Two years after its formation the released a giant of an EP:”One by one the wicked fall”.Since then Warbringer has been recieving quite a lot of attention within the underground music scene.I mean,if a Sri Lankan metal blogger gets to hear about them and actually blogs about their “to be released soon” album,they’ve got to be big.

They describe their music as “Combat Thrash”,and heck,is it not?The name,the videos,the lyrics and what appears to be the cover art of their debut album(reminds me of some Marduk album covers and Iron Maiden’s “A matter of life and death” cover art),they all shout out; “War!!!”.The following lines are taken from Warbringer hit “Total War”,if that’s not war,I don’t know war.

“Thousands of soldiers march to their fate
Lambs to the slaughter, certain death awaits
Trapped on a field littered with bones
Nations of fallen lying below….”

Well,rumour has it that,”War without end” will be just as promising as Warbringer’s 2006 EP.The Ep was one hell of an EP,I’ll tell you that.They’re doing exactly what “The Big Four” taught us as Thrash,but what makes them Warbringer is they do it without being another Metallica/Slayer cover band.The somewhat “Dragonforcey” drum intro to Total War and the occasional combo guitar battles have added a pinch of power metal to Warbringer’s music.They have their unique aspects,they know their music,and if there ever was anything called “The New Wave of American Thrash Metal”,that’s Warbringer!!!

Warbringer’s debut album “War without end” will be released in the U.S on the 5th February and 20 days later in Europe.You lucky Americans!!!

Air Guitarist needed for rocking band,are you the one?

From  the Jimi Hendrix era to the  early days of heavy metal when Sabbath and Zeppelin ruled the industry,from the days of Van Halen to to the thrashy evenings with Slayer,from Sunset Boulevard to the dark woods of Carpathian Mountains,along with many variations of Heavy Music,one item remained static.The Air Guitar!!!

Special note:This blog post about the Air Guitar’s noticed,yet unappreciated contribution towards the rise of heavy music,is not categorized as “Miscellaneous” or “Humour”.It falls under “Equipment”,as I personally believe-and hopefully you will too-that the Air Guitar deserves just as much recognition and credit as any other piece of equipment,so as to reign among giants like B.C.Rich Guitars,Pearl Percussion,Zildjian cymbals,Dunlop picks and Marshall amps.

It is the single instrument “where the musical ability plays second fiddle to virtual virtuosity”.Actually it needs something a little bit more than musical ability.To play air guitar,you have to have an absolute love for a little thing called “the music”.The urge to play Air Guitar actually takes a lot more than the urge to go to a guitar class and start knockin’ a few ol’ chords off.And you can’t grow into it gradually,either you feel it,or you just never feel it,never,ever in your whole life.

Do not mistake that though,Air Guitar is not at all an amateur/wannabe musician act.I’ve seen many professional,non-guitarist musicians,especially in the metal industry-where else do you find such loyal fans/artistes-playing air guitar,even in official music videos.The first such one that hits my mind,is Tyranny by Firewind.Then-vocalist,Sri Lankan Chitral “Chitty” Somapala plays an awesome harmony on air guitar along with Gus G.You didn’t hear the harmony?If you didn’t,the chances of you becoming the Air Guitarist I am looking for,are very little.

Let’s leave humour aside,Air Guitar is very serious business.If you clicked the link above,you may have already seen this;Docurama films,Shadow Distribution and Magical Elves Production produced an “on-fire” documentary on Air Guitar.Check out Air Guitar Nation if you have time.

If you’ve read this far,you honestly deserve something,your brand new Air Guitar will be delivered to your door step tomorrow,free!!!If you already have one,pick it up and start playing SLAYER.

Horns to you friends!!!

\m/

“Sweet Child O’ Mine”~Carnatic Version???

Yes,I know that’s an eyebrow raiser,but honestly,if you watch it with an open mind,and listen as a musician,you are going to like it.It’s not an officially released record but a Channel [V] Advertisement.Played with two electric eight string Sitars,backed by a Veena and Tabla,this cover of the  Guns ‘N’ Roses’ legendary chart topper,is definitely not metal,but it is one of those rare occasions where absurdity not only makes sense but goes along with world class master pieces. 

When it comes to this type of miscellaneous music,being the offspring of two very different genres,there is a risk of being approved by neither group of fans.In this special case,this not metal at all,and a professional Carnatic musician might call this not Carnatic enough.In any case,to the best of my knowledge,Carnatic music-like metal-never really received the credit it deserves as a form of serious art.So one might say that it is a perfect combination after all.

Guns ‘N’ Roses,as far as I am concerned,were never metal band.I would call Guns ‘N’ Roses “straight in the face,good hard rock”.G.N.R frontman Axl Rose,when questioned about sharing common ground with NWOBHM band the mighty Iron Maiden,clearly stated “I hope not”.But at the same time,”G.N.R appealed to all the sections,there was enough glam about them for the girls to love what they were doing,there was enough street-wise attitude and hard riffing for the metal fans……..they covered all the bases without realising it”,as Malcolm Dome commented to VH1-Rock Docs.Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich referred to Axl Rose as “danger personified”.So clearly G.N.R was not a hardcore metal band,but they were a  band who played serious hard rock.

Carnatic music,on the other hand,has also had its share of fusion along with commercialised music.Though I personally do not consider many of these commercial fusion acts as artistes,it brought Carnatic music to light,in a way it was never expected to come out.

One other thing Carnatic musicians share in common with G.N.R,and Rock artistes,is the big hair-do.As I said earlier G.N.R was not hair metal at all,but long hair has always been a part of rock and roll,and it will always be.So apart from skilled technical playing there’s more common factors between metal and Carnatic music.

This blog post is not written with the intention of provoking humour,it was not a review(you can’t really review an Ad!!!) but one good example of what true rock and roll can be sculpted into.It is “the” single genre of which the classical roots are so obvious,where the instruments are played with an extremely technical manner.After all they did a Carnatic version of Sweet Child O’ Mine,what more is left to say?