With a strong focus on the Australian music scene, Australian Guitar is a rich source of information on playing techniques, styles, the wide range of instruments available and all the technology that guitarists have to consider in the 21st Century.
LAMB OF GOD + BODY COUNT COLLAB ON THE WAY (MAYBE) Lamb Of God are currently working on new music, and are reportedly collaborating with Ice-T-fronted heavy metal outfit Body Count. In a new photo posted to the latter group’s Instagram page (see above), Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe can be seen with guitarists Ernie C and Juan Garcia. The post’s accompanying caption reads: “When your friend Randy Blythe invites you to do back up vocals on brand-new Lamb of God material… you show up and support.” It adds that the Virginia metallers’ new music is “slamming”. The nature of Lamb Of God’s new material is yet to be revealed, though they are reportedly working again with longtime producer Josh Wilbur, who has produced every Lamb Of God album…
CHRISTOS ATHANASIAS HAILS FROM MELBOURNE, VIC PLAYS IN DEVIL ELECTRIC AND THE UGLY KINGS SOUNDS LIKE FACE-PUNCHING ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LATEST DROP GODLESS (devil electric lp out now independently) What’s your current go-to guitar? When it comes to Devil Electric live, I’ve been using the most excellent Guild Polara S-100. It plays brilliantly from the get-go and sounds unreal; it has excellent tone response and sounds fat and tight, especially when I’m playing heavy, chugging riffs. When it comes to The Ugly Kings, I’ve been religiously using a sunburst Hagstrom Viking Deluxe. This has been customised with gold hardware, TV Jones pickups and an original Bigsby. This was literally the first project where I created something unique, using what the makers intended but adding a Christos flavour. It’s a super…
ALDOUS HARDING Warm Chris 4AD / REMOTE CONTROL Landing as Aldous Harding’s fourth album, Warm Chris contains delicate piano ballads, acoustic-based blues that chase dreams of having an office in the country (‘Tick Tock’), forays into pop and indie-rock, and an unexpected collaboration with Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson. While much of Warm Chris is undeniably lovely, it’s often in one ear and out the other. Meanwhile, the moments of failed experimentalism – see the childlike screeching on ‘Leathery Whip’, and overly pitched-up singing on the otherwise catchy ‘Lawn’ – bring down the listening experience. There’s nothing wrong with trying new things, of course – it just doesn’t work too well in this instance. BUGS Cooties COMMUNITY MUSIC Bugs’ jangly brand of happy emo, drawing on early 2000s pop-punk with an…
PUP The Unraveling Of PUPTHEBAND LITTLE DIPPER / COOKING VINYL After three albums and an EP, fans know what to expect from the Canadian grit-pop overlords in PUP. We expect thick, crunchy riffs slathered in distortion, wailing with nigh-on punishing aplomb. We expect lyrics that make us want to laugh at first, then cry, then laugh again. Above all, we expect character – the tongue-in-cheek dorkiness of Stefan Babcock’s snarky quips, the loose and lively bite of Steve Sladkowski’s shredding, and the kind of steadfast, yet colourful rhythm section only bassist Nestor Chumak and drummer Zack Mykula could hold down. Like we said in our review of 2019’s Morbid Stuff (see: Australian Guitar #132), there’s only one band that sounds like PUP, and we like it when they sound like…
WHERE KRYAL CASTLE BALLARAT, VICTORIA WHEN THURSDAY DECEMBER 30TH AND FRIDAY 31ST, 2021 It was hard not to feel excited as Kryal Castle came into view, with authentically styled red and blue banners hanging from its dual turrets. This festival has the best metal and hardcore bands Australia has to offer, and it’s being held inside a full-size replica of a medieval castle in the middle of country Victoria. A castle. This author cannot stress enough how metal it is to walk across a drawbridge to enter a festival – even if the moat was an off-putting, murky green (and probably contained at least 400 unique varieties of bacteria). With the mercury high and the mood even higher, both Windwaker and The Beautiful Monument were able to hype up those…
Debut albums can be a terrifying beast to tackle – after all, you only get one chance to make your first full-length record. As such, some bands spend years – decades, even – going out of their way to make the strongest records possible crafting opulent, conceptual epics primed to make musical history. Some bands stick to the bare necessities, focusing on a smaller list of ideas to ensure each one is executed as sharply as possible. And some bands know right off the bat that they’ll be late bloomers, so their debut albums are little more than glorified demos – they’ll save the real good shit when they’ve got an audience lined up. Bakers Eddy are none of those bands. They’re a bit paradoxical in their process – they’re…
