INTERVIEW: Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott
Arch Enemy are about to embark on the last round of touring for last year’s excellent Khaos Legions. More melodic and with maybe a touch less death than you might expect from a melodic death metal band, Khaos Legions is also the last Arch Enemy album to feature guitarist Chris Amott, whose departure from the band was announced earlier this month. But mere line-up changes can’t keep Arch Enemy down: new guitarist Nick Cordle of Arsis has taken up the co-guitarist throne alongside Michael Amott, and the band has a lot to say and do before they put the full stop at the end of Khaos Legions.
You’re about to come to Australia for a very short tour. Only two shows. You know what that means for a lot of fans: heavy metal road trip!
Yeah! We’re happy that we got the opportunity to play Australia at all this year, but it’s just these two shows. We wanted to play it safe. And it’s at the end of an Asia run. We start in Japan and do four shows there, then we go round Singapore, the Philippines, Korea, various places around Asia. Then we got the opportunity with a new promoter to tack on these two Australian shows, Melbourne and Sydney. We’re just really excited about doing it. I guess it’s been a couple of years since we were there now.
The last time I saw you were was probably Gigantour.
Yeah. I think the last time we were there was ’09. We did Gigantour, we’ve done a few different things down there. This will be our fourth or fifth visit to Australia, and this will be the last one in a while. We’re obviously not going to come back this year after these shows, then next year, 2013 is going to be a year off for Arch Enemy mostly. We’ll probably put out a new album in 2014. So I don’t know, maybe 2015 we’ll be back, if metal is still around at that point! So it’s going to be a while, so if anybody wants to see us and get their dose of Arch Enemy this is the last one for a while.
Obviously the hot topic at the moment is Chris’s departure from the band. What’s the story?
Well, Chris informed us in October last year that he wanted to leave the band. Again. [Laughs]. He’s been out of the band, in 2005, 2006, 2007. Continue reading
Richie Kotzen auctions original Ibanez guitars
Wow. Some shred guitar history is up on the auction block: two of Richie Kotzen’s original Ibanez guitars. They’re being sold on Richie’s website – below is some info from the listings. Hit Richie’s site for more info and to bid.
“This is the Ibanez guitar Richie played on his first cd. 90% of the solos were played on this guitar. Comes with Hard Case. Back neck plate is missing as you can see in the photograph.”
NAMM 2012: Year Of The Sea Foam Green
One thing that really, really stood out to me at NAMM this year was the prevalence of Sea Foam Green. It’s not quite blue, it’s not quite green, but it’s definitely cool this year. Hell, Steve Vai seems to like this shade so much that it features on his new signature Ibanez Jem70V Premium model and his new Carvin Legacy III amplifier. See?
NAMM 2012: Ibanez M8M Meshuggah 8-string
You’ve asked for it for years, and I even spoke with Meshuggah about it over a year ago, and Ibanez has finally done it: a Meshuggah signature 8-string, the M8M. And boy have they done it right. These guitars are built by Sugi, the fast-becoming-legendary shop behind the ultra-premium Fireman, the Joe Satriani ‘Black Dog’ edition and the 20th Anniversary Universe which came out a few years ago. List price on this puppy? $7,999.99 USD, but who knows? If this goes well, perhaps we could see a lower-priced version produced at a different factory with more affordable specs. Check out the pics at the end of the post. Phwoar.
The M8M features an alder body with five-piece maple-bubinga neck with through-neck construction, and a 29.4″ scale length. Ibanez’s Mike Taft tells me these guitars are absolutely top of the line, and they could have opted to make them bolt-ons instead but if you’re going to do it, you might as well go all the way, hence the through-neck construction. They also feature a Lundgren M8 humbucker, a very expensive, non-production pickup. Again, this is one of the reasons the price is so high, but if you want to play what Meshuggah play, this is the pickup! The Schaller Security Locks are a nice touch too.
NAMM 2012: Ibanez Premium Jem70V
This year Ibanez has introduced a Steve Vai signature Jem in the Preimium line. Premium axes are made in a factory in Indonesia which Ibanez has an ownership stake in. Check out pics of the new axe from the NAMM floor at the end of this post. Nice, huh?
The Jem70V is in Sea Foam Green, and it features Steve’s signature DiMarzio Evolution humbuckers, an Ibanez Edge bridge, basswood body (like the earliest Jems), rosewood fretboard with full vine inlay (colour-matched to the body and headstock), and a 5-piece maple/walnut JEM Premium neck. The neck is very much a Jem neck, not simply a Wizard shape with a floral inlay on it or anything, and the fretwork is spectacular. I know some players are hesitant to check out Indonesian instruments because they might associate them with lower-cost lines, but the Ibanez Premium range is much closer to J Custom quality than Prestige. If you’re an Ibanez geek like me you should find that pretty exciting.
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), guitarworld.com, Tone Deaf, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Reverbnation or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com