Interviews

Misha Mansoor Interview – Periphery (2012) by Ivan Chopik

Since their influential debut album release in 2010, Periphery have morphed from a fledgling young group with an eclectic blend of styles into a modern progressive metal powerhouse. After undergoing a number of lineup shifts and touring the world several times over, including a direct support run with the mighty Dream Theater, the sextet from Bethesda, Maryland arrived at their second release, Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal.  This album declared a new chapter for Periphery, revealing... Read More →

Read More Interviews

Artist Licks

Artist Lick: Jake Bowen of Periphery Plays ‘Luck As A Constant’ Solo

[Jake's Ibanez Prestige 6-string guitar is tuned to Drop-C. Low to high: C G C F A D.]    Luck As A Constant – 2nd Solo (4:50 – 5:20) With this solo I wanted to do something that was slightly shreddy, a little bit jazzy, a little bit flamboyant. It goes back and forth between two licks at a time. Bars 1-2 I’m switching from a selective picking technique straight into full alternate picking when I get to the higher strings. It has this almost ‘rolling’ effect in the beginning – you roll your way to the top and then… (Continue)

Check Out More Lessons

Lessons

Jakub Żytecki – Living Mirrors: A Lesson In Songwriting & Arrangements by Jakub Zytecki

Welcome to my lesson at Guitar Messenger! Today, I’m going to talk about my approaches to songwriting and arrangements. I’ve taken a few examples from the Disperse album called Living Mirrors and would like to discuss how the instruments in those examples work together. At the end, I’ve got a solo section I would like to break down for you, as well. Enigma of Abode The first example comes from the ambient part of Enigma of Abode. I’m going to show you what I tried to do to create the space and ambient atmosphere of that part and what kind… (Continue)

Check Out More Lessons

Artist Masterclasses

Opeth: Fredrik Åkesson Masterclass

[Fredrik's Paul Reed Smith Signature Model guitar is in Standard Tuning: E A D G B E]  String-Skipping / Tapping Lick This lick utilizes both string-skipping and tapping techniques. Fredrik creates some interesting harmonic movement by outlining an Emin7 arpeggio, followed by a combination of Eaug(maj7) and Emaj7 arpeggios. He warns that “the tricky part is to mute the strings…... Read More →

Check Out More Lessons

Gear Reviews

Elevon Audio Pro Series Guitar Cable

Mike Dunne and Rob Stepnowski are two avid guitarists with a synchronous vision of both music and audio product design philosophy. While their musical background lays the bedrock for their pro audio enterprise,... Read More →

Check Out More Gear

Concert Reviews

The Ophidian Trek – Meshuggah / Baroness / Decapitated @ The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA

Vogg of Decapitated Leave it to the world of metal to produce a concert bill where the outfit called Decapitated is the “normal” one. Still, Poland’s death-metal droogs seem the perfect outfit to inaugurate the Ophidian Trek’s local stop at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Their brand of high-velocity... Read More →

Mastodon, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Red Fang @ House Of Blues – Boston, MA

Bryan Giles of Red Fang “I remember doing some W.C. Fields impression when I was in second grade and the crowd went ‘YEAH!’” Red Fang vocalist and co-guitarist Bryan Giles confesses with a grin. “I thought ‘Ahhh I could be on stage and have people do that all the time!” Though the... Read More →

Read More Reviews

News

Guitar Messenger Solo Competition – Submit Your Entry!

Step One DOWNLOAD THE CONTEST BACKING TRACK available at Facebook.com/GuitarMessenger. Give us a LIKE, then click the BACKING TRACK tab next to the LIKES count at the top right to access the audio and transcriptions... Read More →

Exclusive Video: SCALE THE SUMMIT Tracking Guitars For New Album – THE MIGRATION

Progressive instrumentalists SCALE THE SUMMIT have released a second behind-the-scenes video update from the recent recording sessions for their new album, The Migration, which will be released in North America on June 11th.... Read More →

Read More News

CD/DVD Reviews

Robert Cray – Nothin’ But Love

When Muddy Waters sang ‘The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll’ in 1977 it was a lesson to the youth of where this loud new sound had originated from just a scant couple decades ago. Few, however, took to mind the parent within the metaphor.  Young as rock and roll still may have been,... Read More →

High On Fire – De Vermis Mysteriis

De Vermis Mysteriis album cover. Click to enlarge. Another couple years, another High on Fire LP, and another sturdy contender for album of the year. De Vermis Mysteriis seems at once a staggering achievement and yet somehow inevitable. Matt Pike and company have been churning out reliably high grade... Read More →

Meshuggah – Koloss

Koloss album cover. Click to enlarge. Few bands can claim to be both mirror and hammer to the modern metal scene, at once reflecting the zeitgeist whilst forging its future. And yet Meshuggah have managed to do just that for two decades. For a band built up from relative obscurity in the early nineties,... Read More →

Read More Reviews