Dan G

http://www.myspace.com/mymindsweapon The end of "the forgotten" from about 3:23 in. Which has the obvious drums, bass and vocals - but also has synth and 9 layers of guitars; 2 main rhythm guitars panned hard right and left, playing power chords 2 guitars doubling the above, but a bit quieter. 1 main rhythm guitar, panned centrally, strumming the full chord progression 2 very quiet delayed lead guitars, one playing the synth part and the other playing a harmony (panned at about 9 and 3 'o clock) 2 very quiet delayed 'clean' guitars, playing different parts of the same chord (panned at about 9 and 3 'o clock)

me. i will be going.

lucky I didn't go with my other resonse of: "why its an acronym for 'wanking is fucking incredible', of course..." that would have gone down a treat!

unfortunately my comment was originally a lot funnier than they made out: Here's how it went: Evening Express: "Do you know what 'wi-fi' is?" Dan G: "uh.... nope, sorry." EE: "Well could you hazard a guess?" DG: (sniggering and clearly taking the piss) "Sound's like it could be a stereo system for women." EE: (writing down my response as if I was being deadly serious) "ok, thanks." Even the guy taking the photo knew I was being 'funny'... but sadly enough, 2 of the other 3 people in the EE thought it was somethihg to do with a hi-fi as well...

in all honesty... i listened to it and just thought my computer had broken. Sorry. But this style isn't my particular field of expertise so don't take my comment as particularly useful

that sheehan video is disgustingly good!! how the fuck does anyone do that, it's unreal... he plays bass on the G3 dvd my dad has... with satch, vai and petrucci. Entertaining stuff

that is incredible, i was actually smiling like a gormless idiot at my screen when he went into the funky second half of amazing grace... playing the harmonic lead lines and the bass line underneath at the same time... holy smokes. Cheers for that spoonie, if i wasn't already in a good mood that would have brightened my day!

i was thinking of getting this: http://www.roland.co.uk/synth_room_catdet.asp?id=FANTOMXA any opinions people in the know? EDIT: It better be good... I just splashed out 700 big ones

ok thanks, cos cool string sounds is more what I'm after. What about the argos casio keyboard? I jest, I jest!

I was thinking of something along the lines of the microkorg?

the best example of a band that use synths that I like would probably be Soilwork: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=14936298 Listen to the intro to 'Stabbing The Drama', and between 0:35 - 1:00 of 'Shadowchild'... for good examples. (I'm not expecting you to like the music necessarily, I just love the atmospheric sound the synths give) Thanks for you help people

I was gutted to miss this gig, but I was actually playing just round the corner at the Barfly on that night... SYL are incredible live so I was muchos disappointed to not get to see them again. How effortless does Gene Hoglan look playing those tubs!

Basically I am a big fan of synths in songs, when used tastefully and subtly. Not interested in samples and all that stuff, but basically would like something that can make good quality string section/synth sounds (the usual) etc. What models are the reknowned for being good and how much would they cost? Also, where would be the best place to buy one... ebay or bruce millers! I'm not gonna rush out and buy one just yet, but any help would be appreciated... thank you! Dan

That's a "UK band, not a LOCAL band" / Although technically none of the band members are from Aberdeen ..... But yes I'd still say we're an Aberdeen band.

yeah dude totally. And I hear those 4 people had the time of their lives!

Arch Enemy and Strapping Young Lad in Glasgow... i'd be there but I am playing a gig in glasgow (barfly) tomorrow... doggamn in.

But ocean machine was released in 1998? unless that review was written 3 years in the future then it is lying! Can't wait for Synchestra though. GOD BLESS DEVY.

haha, I didn't mean it quite as directly as I said it Chris! I was speaking in very general terms; i.e. all bands are very loud, very metal, tuned down guitars, not particularly melodic etc etc. Also the 'short' set comment wasn't meant in a bad way. We (mmw) always play really short sets, as that way people that don't like us will be glad we fucked off, and people that do like us will want to hear more!

no, no - it was merely to cleanse the palette before indulging in the culinary perfection that is the chili beef pizza.

Chilli beef pizza and a poppadom from the little belmont hut. Superb.

Well I'm actually gonna give a proper review of all the bands, as constructively as possible: Firstly I'll apologise for missing baby karma, but I HAD to get some food and just missed their set. Stayover. I'd start by saying that I wish they'd have gone in the middle to break up the metal bands. However, I thought Stayover were really good - and although not my style of music, the one thing apparent is that they are a well rehearsed, professional band and had the best sound quality of the night. They also showed a good amount of crowd interaction and you could tell there were people at the gig to see them. Triple vocal harmonies aren't the easiest to pull off but it is very obvious how much work they put into them. I can understand fully why people into this sort of thing love them. Statue Of Misery Sound quality was pretty muddy, but was good to see a heavy band with some sung vocals - definitely a Black Sabbath and Black Label Society influenced band! Some good riffs in there, although could have been a little tighter in places. I kept wanting to sing in a Justice era Hetfield voice over the songs though Weeping Jesus Again the sound was very muddy, but damn these guys were brutal. Forgive me for saying this, but it occasionally ventured into nu-metal territory (I don't mean that in a derogatory way) but for the biggest part sounded much like the roadrunner bands in the mid 90's (Sepultura/Deicide/Morbid Andgel/Machine Head etc). Thought the bassist was a quality front man - kinda like a mini-me more-things-change-robb-flynn who's had some death metal presence lessons from glenn Benton and David vincent. Ace! To be honest I can fully appreciate why people would both love or hate Weeping Jesus Songs kinda merged into one in MY opinion - although most bands that use a lot of tuned-to-B riffage and no melodic parts (vocals or guitar parts) do that on their first listen. Element 106 Sound was better for these guys. Singers voice was pretty cool - reminded me greatly of Nick Holmes (gothic era). Had some good songs in there but also a few more basic ones that again, to me sounded quite nu-metal (open, 1, open 1, open 1; for all those guitarists reading this ) Not always the tightest throughout the gig, but was enjoying the pinched Harmonics Hog Neonfluxicide (sp? - it's a made up word!) was probably the highlight of the set - and also playing a shorted set definitely benefitted them, as them WJ and SoM are all similarish sounding! My Mind's Weapon What can I say, it was great to follow a raffle Thought we had a pretty decent gig - and I had a lot of fun. Nuff said. Ascension Had the worst sound of the night by a long way, unfortunately. I couldn't hear a single note during any of the guitar solos which was a shame as they at least LOOKED impressive. Singers voice was definitely a highlight for me - as far as POWER METAL singers go I certainly haven't heard anyone better in Aberdeen (yet). He also seemed to be getting into the songs a little which was good as the bass player and gregor (stage left guitarist) especially didn't seem to move a single muscle other than their hands. The sound really did ruin it for me though as I'm sure there were loads of guitar harmonies going on, but I could make a single one of them out. Also I can't comment on the actual 'songs' too much as, again, I couldn't hear when a different chord was being played such was the muddiness. Most comedy part of the night was when Doc (guitarist stage right - looked like he should have been in Judas Priest) took the piss out of MMW for having 'emo' fringes. Clearly not the most observational charcater as Ben is the only member of MMW who has even a fringe - never mind an 'emo' haircut... whereas Doc himself was sporting a lovely coiffed do that ironically is becoming very popular with the emo kids these days. All in all, a great night although it was a shame that most bands had a pretty muddy sound. An incredible well done goes out to hog for dealing with the gig very well and doing his part for a good cause. I tip my metaphorical cap to you my good sir!

taken from the Ascension forums: