This month, we bring you exclusive interviews with four of heavy metal’s crushingest bands – Slipknot, Lamb of God, Machine Head and Meshuggah. And it goes a little something like this...
SLIPKNOT: Jim Root and Mick Thomson do a deep dive into the making of the band’s dizzying and cathartic new album, The End, So Far. It's all here: the setbacks, the depression, the wild gear experiments, the whammy-bar hijinx and more! We also list Jim and Mick's complete backline (their amps, pedals and beyond) and ask Jim about his new signature Charvel.
LAMB OF GOD: Willie Adler and Mark Morton, Lamb of God’s yin-and-yang guitar duo, take you behind the scenes of the band’s “combative,” “confrontational” (and mostly live-in-the-studio) new album. Our feature includes an updated gear list and a look at Morton’s massive Nevermore riff.
MACHINE HEAD: Robb Flynn walks us through everything that led up to the Bay Area metal veterans’ 10th album, plus his effects, the Burn My Eyes 25th-anniversary tour – and exactly why he thinks Machine Head are the Grateful Dead of metal. Includes an updated band timeline.
MESHUGGAH: Mårten Hagström takes you inside the making of the Swedish death metal masters’ unrelenting new album, Immutable, his weakness for Simon & Garfunkel – and the return of co-founding guitarist Fredrik Thordendal.
We also catch up with the legendary Robin Trower and Korn’s James “Munky” Shaffer – while the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach recounts his career in 10 songs (which also includes a Tonal Recall-style guide to Auerbach’s Boss pedal settings on Tighten Up).
We have interviews with A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel, plus Lari Basilio, Leprous, Bloodbath, S.G. Goodman and Kirk Fletcher, not to mention the Introducing column.
Meanwhile, Joe Bonamassa fills you in on Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, Andy Timmons shares some string-bending techniques, Andy Aledort shows you how to improvise over a classic Muddy Waters tune – and there’s a fresh new column by Josh Smith.
This month’s song transcriptions are 2112/Overture by Rush, Deadman’s Curve by Brothers Osborne (if you’re not familiar with this guitar solo, you really need to check it out!) and Pink Moon by Nick Drake.
Gear-wise, we have reviews of Reverend’s new Billy Corgan Signature Z-One guitar, the Line 6 Catalyst 100 combo, the super-cool-looking ESP Guitars LTD Deluxe SN-1000HT Fire Blast and Fender’s new Hammertone Distortion and Overdrive pedals.
In Power Tools, Chris Gill explores the history of the MXR Dyna Comp and provides some optimal settings.
We also present eight of our favorite home-recording products – from pedals to plug-ins – that’ll make your tunes sound like they were tracked at a swanky L.A. (or Brooklyn... or Joshua Tree…) studio.
I hope you enjoy this metal- (and gear-) packed issue!
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