At 12 years old, Corbin got his first guitar, a nearly unplayable Strat clone from a local music store. He played in a handful of punk, metal and post-rock bands, doing a few small DIY tours. Corbin earned a degree in Music and Sound Technology and has used it to self-record some records, as well as adding to his gear and music knowledge at zZounds, where he works as Product Manager for zZounds’ Direct Commerce Platform.
Five Tips to Get More from Your Gear
Most guitarists don’t start out with top-of-the-line professional gear. Pretty much everyone I know had a no-name guitar, a garage sale drum kit, a keyboard from Craigslist or a hand-me-down instrument from a sibling or relative’s attic. Eventually though if they’re serious about playing, musicians slowly upgrade their gear by mowing lawns, saving allowances and […]
Sumac – The Deal
With Isis/Old Man Gloom frontman and Hydra Head Records founder/owner Aaron Turner at the helm, Sumac has its roots dug deep into the metal underground. In the wake of Isis disbanding and Hydra Head closing down, Turner spent some time with various side projects like Old Man Gloom and the black metal studio band Twilight, […]
Sweet Cobra – Earth
Formed in 2003, Chicago’s Sweet Cobra have been hammering out hard hitting post-hardcore for over a decade. Their first full-length in five years, Earth was recorded and produced by Matt Talbot of Hum and Kurt Ballou of Converge. Listening to the record, the elements of both bands are clearly present. While the label post-hardcore definitely […]
Get the Tone: Doom Metal
A haze of gloom and fuzzy feedback emanates from stacks of amplifiers. The buzzing drone builds into a wall of slow, churning riffs that rise and swell, inspiring a feeling of ominous dread that wells up inside of you -— the sound of doom metal. Like so much of modern metal music, the doom sub-genre […]
Townes Van Zandt – Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas
Spanning six solo performances in July of 1973 at an old Texas saloon, Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas is often regarded as the quintessential Townes Van Zandt album. As a artist with a long, diverse discography, this album captures every aspect of his style. While Van Zandt’s studio work is not without its […]
YOB – “Clearing The Path to Ascend”
Oregon doom champions YOB’s most recent effort, “Clearing The Path to Ascend,” breathes a breath of fresh air into the sometimes-stale genre of doom metal. Too often, doom bands rely on heaviness and heaviness alone as their only tool to wield, paying little attention to song dynamics or character. While YOB does a great job […]
A Rough Guide to Setting Up Your Guitar
Few things excite a guitarist as much as a new guitar. As soon as it arrives the first thing you want to do is start tearing out some hot riffs, but before you can even strum a chord, you realize something — the action is way off. You paid good money for this guitar, so you want things right. […]
New Gear Report: EHX Octavix & Reverend Sensei Jr.
Electro-Harmonix Octavix Octave Fuzz If I had a nickel for every fuzz out there, I would probably use that money to buy myself another fuzz and there is a good chance it would be this one. To start, it’s based off the Octavia (sometimes called Octavio) fuzz that Hendrix used to rip on. The fuzz […]
