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“I can’t tell who from who”: Death Angel guitarist on the problem with metal bands today
Death Angel guitarist Ted Aguilar believes that modern metal has an identity problem. He argues that while today’s players are more technically gifted than ever, many bands struggle to stand out from one another.
Speaking in a new interview with Pipeman, Aguilar says that unlike bands of the past, contemporary bands often lack the distinct identities that once defined the genre, even if the scene itself is more active than ever.
“There’s nothing against the metal bands of today, and the good thing about it is there’s a lot of them – maybe a little too much sometimes. It’s oversaturated. And they’re keeping it alive. They’re carrying the torch,” he says [via Blabbermouth]. “But I grew up in a time where thrash metal, Anthrax sounded different from Overkill, Death Angel sounded different from Testament.”
“They had their own sound, but it was thrash. Of course, they were all influenced by the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and punk rock, and, of course, Metallica; everyone was influenced by Metallica and Exodus, ‘cause they were in the forefront.”
“But everyone just said, ‘We want that aggression, but our style.’ For example, [Death Angel singer] Mark [Osegueda] doesn’t sound like [Testament singer] Chuck Billy. Chuck Billy doesn’t sound like [Vio-Lence frontman] Sean Killian, and no one sounds like [former Exodus vocalist Steve Souza] Zetro.”
According to Aguilar, the difference isn’t a lack of talent. If anything, he says the technical ability of today’s musicians is “next level” compared to previous generations.
“My gripe about today’s metal, and this is just me and it’s no diss to these bands, I can’t tell who from who,” he says. “And I think metal nowadays, there’s some incredible players – like, oh my God, they could run circles around us, and they’re very talented.”
Unlike in the past where members of a band were often “figuring it out together”, many modern players arrive already fully formed individually, shaped by online learning and solo practice.
“[Back] then it’s just, like, you figured out your instrument together as a band: ‘Let’s write songs. Let’s do covers,’” he says. “In this day and age, and, again, there is no diss, ‘cause there’s amazing musicians out there. Incredible, like, oh, man, I wish I could do it. What’s in the water today that you could run circles around everyone? But it’s just the YouTubers and the influencers or whatnot, where then it’s just, like, you had to figure out, you had to be a band together.”
“There’s something about being in a room together, with everyone learning from each other, bouncing ideas,” says Aguilar, as opposed to players today who “are so used to being by yourself, you don’t know how to click with another musician.”
“That’s the organic way back then,” he continues. “It’s just, like, you get in a room, ‘let’s play’, and you go home and you kept playing. You write, you come back, ‘Hey, guys, I got this idea,’ and you work on it together.”
“Now… There’s pros and cons to everything. Like anything in life. You have the technology where you could write riffs and send it to somebody, they learn it, and you could record. But you still gotta get in a room… There’s a synergy where a human contact – you get to see someone’s face, how they feel about it, what they contribute, and maybe the disagreements or whatever.”
The post “I can’t tell who from who”: Death Angel guitarist on the problem with metal bands today appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
“I can’t imagine where guitar players would be without Eddie. We’d be listening to electronic music”: Sammy Hagar says Eddie Van Halen “saved” guitar players
Sammy Hagar has said that Eddie Van Halen “saved guitar players”, and was, in his view, a “music god” whose talents extended far beyond the guitar.
The comments come as Hagar prepares to bring his Best of All Worlds tour – featuring Joe Satriani, bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Kenny Aronoff – back for a limited summer run.
In a recent chat with Guitar Player, the singer reflects on his years working with Van Halen and the guitarist’s enduring influence on rock music and his own musicianship.
“I can’t imagine where guitar players would be without Eddie,” Hagar begins. “He just took a fuckin’ hard left, man, and we’re going to outer space. There were great guitar players before him: Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix.”
“I mean, Hendrix kind of did the same thing – he got that whammy bar in there and changed everything. But Eddie took the whammy bar and the hammer and the frickin’ tapping.”
“But it wasn’t just the innovation of what he did; he was a great musician. He was a master. He was fuckin’ Beethoven – he was that unique. He belongs in that category.”
Hagar also argues that Van Halen’s impact wasn’t limited to his guitar playing alone.
“People call him a rock god – he’s a music god, in my opinion,” says Hagar. “When I bring keyboard players into the band now and they have to learn Right Now and some of his keyboard parts, they’re holding their heads in their hands and saying, ‘Fuck! This guy played keyboards just as unique as he played guitar.’ And on guitar, Joe [Satriani]’s going, ‘Wow, this chording!’”
“So I can’t imagine where guitar players would be without Eddie,” he continues. “I think they probably would’ve come and gone and we’d be listening to electronic music. I think Eddie saved guitar players – he saved us so we could continue and compete with those damn keyboards and electronic instruments and Pro Tools and all that crap.”
The singer also credits Van Halen for making him a “better musician” and expanding his “lyrical abilities”.
“I just loved working with him,” Hagar says. “Like when he was playing Love Walks In on piano – stuff came out of my mouth I would never have sung. The way his playing inspired a lyric and the words that fit melodically, rhythmically within the song, just writing with him was crazy.”
“I remember when we wrote Black and Blue – it’s the most syncopated lyric/guitar thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I would never write a song like that without Eddie.”
While early Van Halen records are often cited as the guitarist’s defining work, Hagar believes some of Eddie’s most ambitious writing came later.
“So many people think the early stuff was his best stuff,” he says. “Well, no, that was just the first time you heard him. It was so fresh and new when you heard Eruption or Spanish Fly or these intros on these songs.”
“Was that the best stuff? It was his simplest stuff.”
Pointing to Can’t Stop Loving You from 1995’s Balance as an example of Van Halen’s later writing, Hagar adds, “When we play that song now, Joe looks at me and goes, ‘Wow, what a piece of music! Every single bar is different. It just keeps changing.’ And this is Joe Satriani. This isn’t some kid that’s just learning how to play guitar.”
“It was an honour being able to play with Eddie,” he concludes. “It made me a better musician. It made me a better writer. It made me a better singer, without a doubt. I did my best vocals ever with Van Halen.”
The post “I can’t imagine where guitar players would be without Eddie. We’d be listening to electronic music”: Sammy Hagar says Eddie Van Halen “saved” guitar players appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Madoc Guitars Wyre Semi Hollow review – “wannabe alt-rock guitar heroes will be in heaven with this thing”
From £1,800 (£2,200 as reviewed), madocguitars.com
All the way back in 2012, I reviewed the Fender FSR Thinline Jaguar for this very publication. It was gorgeous, and left me asking myself why there weren’t more offset-type guitars with semi-acoustic bodies.
- READ MORE: Eastman Fullertone Offset ’62 review – “it has a unique sonic voice and retro feel all of its own”
Now I’m reviewing the Madoc Guitars Wyre Semi Hollow, it’s even more gorgeous, and I’m no longer asking myself that question – I’m yelling it at the sky like a maniac demanding answers from God.
Strictly speaking, this isn’t even an offset – the waist of the body is more or less symmetrical, rather than being swept forward on the top side like a Jaguar or Jazzmaster – but it is a two-pickup guitar with Fender-style construction and a Mastery vibrato, so that’ll do for me.
What really matters, semantics aside, is the ‘even more gorgeous’ bit – because that’s pretty good going for a new UK maker that most people have probably never heard of.
Image: Adam Gasson
Madoc Guitars Wyre Semi Hollow – what is it?
Come with me to the beautiful English county of Worcestershire, famed for its gently rolling hills and unpronounceable (if you’re American) sauce. This is where Luke Roberts builds his guitars under the Madoc name.
The Wyre is his only model for now, but it’s all about custom orders and the spec options are wide open – starting at an undeniably reasonable £1,500 for a one-pickup solidbody with a hardtail bridge.
Not everyone is going to love the distinctive body shape, which has a hint of “Look what the shark did to my surfboard”, but I find it strangely appealing… aided by the fact that my review instrument is finished in the king of all guitar colours: burgundy mist.
That’s just the ash top, though – the sides and back of the chambered mahogany body have been left with a natural oiled finish, along with the roasted maple neck. Completing the main specs in timber terms is an unbound ebony fretboard with a 25.5-inch scale and 12-inch radius.
But it’s in the hardware that this premium-specced sample really stands out – the Mastery tailpiece/bridge combo is a mighty expensive indulgence, adding £400 to the price. Still, it is a proven game changer in terms of tuning stability and reliability.
And that just leaves the pickups, which have the unmistakable look of Filter’Tron types. These are made by Manchester-based Green Pickups – another fairly new name but already one with a certain amount of pedigree, as the Tele pups fitted to the Ancoats Granada I reviewed last year were excellent. These humbuckers promise “definition, dynamics, and that classic Gretsch sparkle” – and who doesn’t want that?
Image: Adam Gasson
Madoc Guitars Wyre Semi Hollow – build and playability
One spec detail I didn’t mention above is the compound neck profile: the Madoc site says it morphs from a modern V at the 1st fret to a modern C at the 12th. The effect is subtle, but what you’re getting is a moderately rounded neck that feels slimmer on the upper frets even though it isn’t.
That might be one reason why this guitar is so luxuriously playable; the other is its impeccably high standard of fret work and general build quality.
There are a couple of cosmetic details that could be considered imperfections – a visible join in the binding just above the bridge pickup, and a headstock decal that looks greyly opaque when it catches the light – but you might just as easily call those evidence of authentic artisan construction.
The important thing is that it’s a pleasure to hold and even more of a pleasure to play. Now all it needs to do is sound good.
Image: Adam Gasson
Madoc Guitars Wyre Semi Hollow – sounds
There are two build factors pulling this guitar in opposite tonal directions: on the one hand, you’ve got the inefficient bridge design that gives offsets their fast, twinkly response; and on the other, you’ve got a semi-hollow body slowing everything down and adding airy warmth.
I’m pretty sure that combination was the secret of the Thinline Jaguar, and here the longer scale length and beefier pickups just make the tone even fuller and smoother.
Mind you, ‘smooth’ is hardly the word for the bridge pickup through a clean amp. I’ve got a Godin hollowbody with TV Jones Filter’Trons and the Wyre actually out-twangs it – the tone is unashamedly bright, with oodles of surfy character.
The neck pickup, in contrast, is pure jazz – albeit still with more treble than most humbuckers in this position – while the middle setting does a sterling job of combining the best of both, and sweetens the whole thing up with some classic phasey chime. The responsiveness to playing dynamics, with either pickup or both, is sublime.
The tone control doesn’t do much until it’s down to at least halfway – which is about as close to a disappointment as I can find in this guitar – but not to worry, because knocking back the volume a notch or two instead is extremely effective at softening down the edges when required.
That’s unlikely to be on your mind once you stomp on the nearest overdrive pedal, though: with high gain, that trebly response translates to a nicely articulate attack for expressive lead work… which is made all the more appealing by the speedy smoothness of the neck.
And of course, a chambered body with humbuckers plus a supremely well-behaved whammy bar is the perfect recipe for controlled feedback. Wannabe alt-rock guitar heroes will be in heaven with this thing – and yes, that is coming from a wannabe alt-rock guitar hero.
Image: Adam Gasson
Madoc Guitars Wyre Semi Hollow – should I buy it?
For readers in the UK at least, it’s hard to think of many reasons not to buy a Wyre Semi Hollow – because even if there’s something about the specifications of this one that you don’t like, all you have to do is change it.
Personally I’d love to try a guitar exactly like this – including the burgundy mist finish, obviously – but with slightly less feisty pickups.
If the price is out of your range, the hardtail and solidbody options will bring it down… but then you’re talking about a quite different guitar. Mind you, if all Madocs are put together as well as this example, then you’re still going to be getting a pretty fantastic instrument.
Image: Adam Gasson
Madoc Guitars Wyre Semi Hollow – alternatives
You’ll notice that the prices below all start with the word ‘from’ – bear in mind that the numbers will go up once you specify semi-hollow construction and a whammy bar. British alternatives include the Trent Model 1 (from £2,095) and Ancoats NQ (from £1,099), while a highly rated American contender is the Jennings Voyager (from $2,845/£2,399). Or you could just go for a factory standard model like the Duesenberg Starplayer TV (€2,599/£2,399).
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