My Guitar Training

Alice Cooper - Poison

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 11:41:00 +0000

The purpose of this entry is to talk a bit about one of the most famous Alice Cooper's song: "Poison", which became a massive hit from his 1989's melodic hard rock album "Thrash", his biggest selling album worldwide.

The thing is, this was one of my first rock/metal tracks that I ever heard, along with couple others (Iron Maiden, Metallica, Queen, Guns and Roses, etc.), and which instantly got me hooked!! It was in a radio cassette that my friend David gave me, when we were in 8th grade, more or less. Every now and then, it has been always in my head. This does not mean that I am a really hardcore Alice Cooper fan.

But, when I found out about The Iron Maidens, I looked around the Internet to find out who this Nita Strauss was. A hot chick and a bad ass metal guitar player, you know... came out that she was playing in the Alice Cooper band.

And, for my (and your) pleasure, the video of how to play the track, by Nita herself. Enjoy!

Fear Factory - Powershifter

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 17 May 2015 20:50:00 +0000

Ultra destroying, heavy pounding, tornado wise track 'Powershifter'. Heard it after long time I lost track of Fear Factory. Posting lyrics as well:

POWERSHIFTER
Feared your control and excessive greed
Abuse of your power disgraced me
You want war
You got war
More than you bargained for

Always question authority, control my own destiny
Forcing change, breaking free
From the gears of the machine
Changing my world so I can live
Execution powershift

I will forge my place in this time
Contention is sharply refined
I will expose you and force your demise
To take control of what is truly mine

The Rock side of Cypress Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 17 May 2015 20:35:00 +0000

Well is known by now that hip hop band Cypress Hill have some pretty good influences from rock and metal world, which we can witness in some of their tracks, old and new ones. Being active since the late 80's (with some setbacks as well), current members are B-Real (lead vocals), Sen Dog (vocals), DJ Muggs (turntables, production) and Eric Bobo (drums and percussion).

I am posting some examples, which by the way, are some of my favourites. They are not very sophisticated tracks, musically speaking, but no doubt they have their unique signature on them. Hope you enjoy!!

Cypress Hill - 'Trouble'

Cypress Hill - 'Can't Get the Best of Me'

Cypress Hill - 'Rise Up'

Trivium live at Chapman Studios

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 17 May 2015 20:18:00 +0000

Trivium plays all the tracklist from the album 'In Waves' (2011) live at Chapman Studios, including my favourites 'Watch the World Burn', 'Black' and 'Built to Fall'. Enjoy!!

Fight - War of Words

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:58:00 +0000

While I was in high school, Toni, a friend of mine, handed me a cassette with loads of tracks from different bands which I had the chance to discover from that tape: Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Mötley Crüe, and many more.

One of them was Fight, with two tracks: "Nailed to the Gun" and "War of Words", from their album of the same name, "War of Words". Just a couple of weeks ago, I searched for those tracks in Grooveshark, and looking for some more info in the net, found out that:

"Fight was an American heavy metal band assembled by Judas Priest frontman, Rob Halford, after his departure from that band in 1992. He took with him from Judas Priest and Racer X drummer Scott Travis, though Travis also continued to drum for Judas Priest. The line-up was completed by Russ Parrish on guitar, Brian Tilse on guitar and keyboards and Jack "Jay Jay" Brown on bass guitar." - taken from Wikipedia.

No wonder why I liked the singer`s voice so much, hehehe. Check out the album: War of Words

Anthrax - Worship Music

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:36:00 +0000

I wanted to write this post earlier, but never made the effort to do it. It is quite important for me because, being a great thrash metal fan since the beginning of my musical taste development, is strange that I never got into one of the undeniable Big 4 from the birth of thrash metal Anthrax!! Also, couple of months ago, I went out with my wife and some friends and they liked the music a lot when I asked the DJ a track from their latest album at full blast!!!

But I found their video from the track "The Devil That You Know", from their latest album "Worship Music", and the sound was fresh, strong and vigorous!! So, obviously, I wanted to listen the rest of the songs.

The tracklist is as follows:
1. Worship - 1:41
2. Earth on Hell - 3:11
3. The Devil You Know - 4:46
4. Fight 'Em 'Till You Can't - 5:48
5. I'm Alive - 5:37
6. Hymn 1 - 0:38
7. In The End - 6:46
8. The Giant - 3:47
9. Hymn 2 - 0:44
10. Judas Priest - 6:24
11. Crawl - 5:29
12. The Constant - 5:21
13. Revolution Screams - 5:01

Check out their video, wicked!!!

Ewan Dobson

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Hi there!!! Well, I haven't touched the guitar for ages now. I really don't have any excuse, but would like to say that I am up to other things right now. If I would like to start the workout, would have to do it from scratch... once again :( That doesn't mean I don't like the guitar anymore, no way!!!!

As I usually do, I want to put this video, which I find amazing, to keep the inspiration flowing. It's from guitarist Ewan Dobson, master of classical and acoustic guitar, which I got from my little brother ;) Hope you all enjoy:

Take care!!!

Rapid-Fire Hard Rock Licks

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Metallica - St Anger studio rehearsal

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:33:00 +0000

How to play Thrash Metal

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Wicked video I found out from guitar player Martin Goulding, where he explains some guitar techniques from such bands as Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth. Hope it teaches you some tips, and enjoy!!

More guitar lessons on his website!!!

Time Warp - Metallica

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Wed, 30 May 2012 12:56:00 +0000

Yesterday I saw this TV Show on Discovery Max and I wanted to share with you. The TV Show is called "Time Warp", and basically, they record almost any kind of stuff and show it in "slow-mo", increasing the frame rate per second.

After announcing it on TV everyday, they were going to do the same thing with Metallica members. They mix some other shootings in between, but you can Fast Forward, which I couldn't do :P Enjoy!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Angelus Apatrida

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:44:00 +0000

Angelus Apatrida have released their latest album "The Call" with label Century Media. It has been recorded in Moita, Portugal, at the Ultrasound Studios with producer Daniel Cardoso (Anneke van Giersbergen, Anathema, etc.). The tracklist is the following:

1. You Are Next
2. At the Gates of Hell
3. Violent Dawn
4. Its Rising!
5. Blood On The Snow
6. Killer Instinct
7. The Hope Is Gone
8. Fresh Pleasure
9. Still Corrupt
10. Reborn
11. Hell Patrol (bonus track)
12. Free Your Soul (bonus track)

Actually, they have become the maximum exponent of Spanish and European thrash metal. The band was founded in 2000 at the city of Albacete. Current members are: Guillermo Izquierdo (rythm and lead guitar, vocals), David G. Álvarez (rythm and lead guitar, chorus), José J. Izquierdo (bass guitar and chorus) and Víctor Valera (drums and chorus).

I got to know them through my friends from "La Cuerda de Carradine" and already knew their previous work. It is quite noticeable in this album how they have taken it further. Also, they have done some wicked versions of classics such as "Be Quick or Be Dead" from Iron Maiden, or "Domination" from Pantera. Here is an interview from Spanish radio channel Radio3, where they talk about their album, their personal experience with their new gained fame and success, sharing stage with Slayer and Megadeth, etc. (it's in Spanish though, sorry!):

Finally, a guitar lesson by Guillermo on how to play "You Are Next". Enjoy!!:

Sepultura - Under Siege

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:14:00 +0000

Sepultura Live at Barcelona 1991:

Overkill

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:09:00 +0000

Overkill is an American thrash metal band from New Jersey, formed in 1980. Considered the real pioneers of thrash metal, they have released 16 studio albums, 2 EPs, 2 live albums and a "covers" album. Through their career, they have experimented many ins and outs of several band members, being the current line-up: Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (lead vocal and founder member), Derek "The Skull" Tailer (rythm guitar and backing vocals), Dave Linsk (lead guitar and backing vocals), D. D. Verni (bass guitar, backing vocals and founder member) and Ron Lipnicki (drums).

I had the chance of watching them perform live at 2003's Metalmania Festival, and, although I hadn't heard much of their material, I quite enjoyed the gig! Now, I've been checking out their latest work, their sixteenth studio album called "The Electric Age", released on March 27th, 2012 in the U.S. on E1 Music and in Europe three days later on Nuclear Blast. They keep their singular style, pure and finest thrash metal (what they do best!), although some will find it repetitive. But at the same time, they deliver fresh riffs and direct to the point, and technically, its just great! I consider they should be along with the "Big 4" in the Thrash scene. My favourite tracks are "Come And Get It", "Old Wounds, New Scars", "Good Night", and of course, "Electric Rattlesnake":

And some "Behind The Scenes":

Pantera - Behind The Music

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:32:00 +0000

Sepultura - Kairos

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:45:00 +0000

Sepultura have released their latest studio album "Kairos" with label Nuclear Blast and producer Roy Z (Judas Priest, Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Helloween). The tracklist is:

1 - Spectrum 4:00
2 - Kairos 3:35
3 - Relentless 3:35
4 - 2011 0:29
5 - Just One Fix 3:30
6 - Dialog 4:54
7 - Mask 4:29
8 - 1433 0:30
9 - Seethe 2:24
10 - Born Strong 4:37
11 - Embrace The Storm 3:30
12 - 5772 0:27
13 - No One Will Stand 3:15
14 - Structure Violence (Azzes) 5:37
15 - 4648 0:28
16 - Firestarter (Bonus Track) 4:30
17 - Point Of No Return (Bonus Track) 3:24

After listening to it a couple of times, I have to say that it does not have much difference to their last two studio albums. There is nothing new in it, and nothing blasting, but if you like "post-Max" period of the band, you will not dislike Kairos. My favourite tracks are "Relentless", "Just One Fix" (Ministry version), "Mask" and "Born Strong". Also, check out the track "Firestarter", a heavy version of the infamous track of The Prodigy.

On the other hand, the band has endorsed a new drummer, 20-year-old from São Paulo, Brazil, who won the Modern Drummer "Undiscovered Drummer" contest as a teenager in 2006, Eloy Casagrande. Jean Dolabella leaves SEPULTURA after a five-year run of relentless touring and two studio albums to focus on personal projects. If you want to check out this "little guy", have a look to the following interview:

Lamb of God

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Lamb of God, formerly known as "Burn The Priest", is an American Heavy Metal band from Richmond, Virgina, formed in 1994. Current members are: Chris Adler (drums), John Campbell (bass guitar), Mark Morton and Willie Adler (guitar) and Randy Blythe (vocals). Until now, they have released six studio albums, and played on several acts as OzzFest and Download Festival.

I got to know them thanks to my friends from La Cuerda de Carradine (Carradine's Rope), and took the chance to listen to their 2009's "Wrath". Their style is classified by the media as thrash metal, death metal, hardcore punk and grindcore. The truth is, they are unique in their sound and they have a very strong and powerful sound.

Here is an example from their album "Resolution", released on 24th January 2012. The track is number 3, "Ghost Walking":

Their guitar sound is best known for their drop-D tunning, which gives them that heavy groove riffs (any bells ringing from Pantera?). Both Mark and Willie seem to be very nice and friendly guys. Each one has their preferences on guitar playing:

Mark Morton: "Morton frequently utilizes pentatonic scales and harmonic minor scales, and it has been noted that he has a blues style to his music. He composes and plays almost all of Lamb of God's guitar solos and forms many of the heavy groove rhythms". - Wikipedia -

Willie Addler: "Self-taught, Willie is well known for his unconventional style of playing, which includes odd/dissonant chord shapes, unique timing patterns, odd rhythms, high usage of his fretting hand's pinky finger, wide stretches between frets due to an increased reach, and being an obsessive perfectionist with his right hand rhythm playing. He plays mostly the jagged staccato riffs in Lamb of God's songs, while Mark Morton plays more of the groove-oriented rhythms and solos. Willie does solo occasionally, and says whereas Morton is more knowledgeable of scales and modes, that he 'attacks solos like a division problem'". - Wikipedia -

Now, I will leave you with some examples, so you can check out what I am talking about:

Igor Presnyakov

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:51:00 +0000

Found it just now messing around with the Internet (who doesn't?), and urged myself to post it for all of you:

From his official website:

Born in Moscow, Russia, Igor Presnyakov studied classical music at a nearby academy and would eventually graduate as both a guitarist and a conductor for ensembles.
He relocated to the Netherlands to further his career, which has now spanned over 35 years.
His unique acoustic guitar-style is influenced by various musical genres from Reggae, Rock and Roll, R&B, Country-western, Jazz and even Heavy Metal.
His most noticeable attribute, is his creative style of “beating” the percussion of the song, onto the body of his acoustic guitar while playing.
This replicates the sound of multiple musicians, while only Igor is playing.
While he sometimes sings on many of his original and cover-songs, Igor is more famous for mimicking the vocal parts of a song, into guitar-solos, while often adding a softer, jazzier sound.
Igor’s popularity has risen since he first debuted on Youtube in 2007. He currently has over 89 million views, in addition to his subscribers, which is over 181,000.
Igor is also now officially endorsed by both Takamine guitars and Fender Amplification.

Check out his YouTube Channel!!

Enjoy this new discovery!! Wicked!!

Megadeth - Th1rt3en

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:47:00 +0000

Megadeth's new release, 13th studio album entitled "Thirteen". Produced by Johnny K (John Karkazis), who has in his CV other bands such as Staind, Disturbed, Machine Head or Mushroomhead. Following the same drive, strength and fury as always, here is the tracklist:

1. Sudden Death.
2. Public Enemy No. 1.
3. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?).
4. We The People.
5. Guns, Drugs & Money.
6. Never Dead.
7. New World Order.
8. Fast Lane.
9. Black Swan.
10. Wrecker.
11. Millenium of the Blind [TH1RT3EN].
12. Deadly Nightshade.
13. 13.

Now, their first single, the Al-Capone inspired song, "Public Enemy No. 1":

La cuerda de Carradine

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:08:00 +0000

At last, the music video of my friends from Gran Canaria, "La cuerda de Carradine - Carradine's Rope":

Made by my brother Ravi and myself. Enjoy!!

Henry Rollins

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:08:00 +0000

These days I've been watching the TV Show Sons of Anarchy with my wife, reaching end of season 3 last night. In the second season, Henry Rollins, played a neo-nazi leader who wanted to succeed in his arian mission against "the good guys". This reminded me some of the songs I have heard of him, some music videos I watched back in the day (Black Flag & Henry Rollins Band), and some of his monologues which I got to know by my brother.

Extracted from Wikipedia:
Henry Rollins (born Henry Lawrence Garfield; February 13, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ.

After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins soon established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006.

Since Black Flag, Rollins has embarked on projects covering a variety of media. He has hosted numerous radio shows, such as Harmony in My Head on Indie 103, and television shows such as The Henry Rollins Show, MTV's 120 Minutes, and Jackass. He had a recurring dramatic role in the second season of Sons of Anarchy and has also had roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for various political causes in the United States, including promoting LGBT rights, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.

Definitely, an intense, hard-working, mutherfucking great guy!!!

This is one of the videos I remember watching when I was hooked to MTV:

This song is dedicated to my brothers:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:50:00 +0000

"I Should Have Known It" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:

Video link - I Should Have Known It

It has been almost a month and a half since I came to Madrid with my wife, but it seems that we have been around for more than a year now. There is a TV channel which I did know nothing about it. This channel is Kiss TV, a 24 hour music channel.

Sometimes we leave it on, and I got enchanted by this video, from Tom Petty & The Heartbrekers. They are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty (guitar and vocals), Mike Campbell (lead guitar), Benmont Tench (piano, organ, harmonium and vocals), (the three of them had been members of Mudcrutch), Ron Blair (bass and vocals) and Stan Lynch (drums and vocals). Petty and the Heartbreakers are known for hit singles such as "American Girl", "Breakdown", "The Waiting", "Learning to Fly", "Refugee" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance". The Heartbreakers still tour regularly and continue to record albums.

The song is from their latest album, June 15th release titled "Mojo", their first album in 8 years. I will have a listen to their record a couple of times, to "get the feel of it". Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do!! Later.

Black Tide

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:57:00 +0000

This post is about a new discovery I have made, thanks again to my friend Javi (yeah, the one who has lend me his acoustic guitar).

Specifically, it is about a band from Miami, Florida, founded in 2004 called Black Tide. Current members are Gabriel Garcia (vocals and lead guitar), Austin Diaz (rhythm guitar and vocals), Zachary Sandler (bass and vocals), and Steven Spence (drums, percussion). The D day, Javi gave me a CD with a bunch of songs and albums which we were checking out that same day at his place, and the optical device (hehe, my techie-side) had a couple of songs from their debut album "Light From Above", released on March 18th, 2008 through Interscope Records. The most amazing thing is that, none of them is in their twenties yet, and they have already played in the Ozzfest.

The complete tracklist of the album is here:

1. "Shockwave"
2. "Shout"
3. "Warriors of Time"
4. "Give Me a Chance"
5. "Let Me"
6. "Show Me the Way"
7. "Enterprise"
8. "Live Fast Die Young"
9. "Hit the Lights" (Metallica cover)
10. "Black Abyss"
11. "Light from Above"

My favourites are "Shockwave", "Warriors of Time", "Let Me", and Metallica's cover "Hit the Lights". Check out their album "Light From Above" in Grooveshark. As usual, I will leave you with one of their videos, hehehe... have fun!!! Gracias Javi!!!

Chart Two, Level D+

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:11:00 +0000

Keep on climbing the chart!! Yoooouhhhuuuu!!!

This is for some inspiration, a breakdown of the song "Entrance of the Conflagration", from Trivium's album of 2006, The Crusade. Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu show bit by bit the entire song, enjoy!!

Chart Two, Level D

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Kamble Govind) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:18:00 +0000

Got started with Chart Two. The beginning is quite easy, but I am going to stick with the timings, so I keep on ascending gradually. And, as the author, David Mead says: "strive for accuracy, speed will come later".

On the other hand, I have finished reading the book titled "La mécanique du cœur" (English version: The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart), written by Mathias Malzieu in 2007, lead singer of French pop/rock band Dionysos. The thing is, they have created a concept album based on the novel. Luc Besson will be creating a featured animated film based on the book, and co-directed by Mr. Malzieu himself, which is planned to be released on the current year, 2011.

Here is a videoclip of the album track Tais Toi Mon Coeur, very Tim Burton stylish. Enjoy yourselves!