Mark Tremonti of ALTER BRIDGE was recently interviewed by Hard Rock Reviews in which he discussed everything from playing in ALTER BRIDGE to a possible Creed reunion. He also gives you the inside scoop on his custom PRS guitar – and in case you missed it, you can win tickets to one of the band’s UK dates, passes to a special meet and greet AND a signed PRS Tremonti guitar. We kid you not! CLICK HERE to enter the competition and see below for and excerpt from the interview with Hard Rock Reviews:

One of the greatest guitarists of our time, yet he’s only just getting started. Being part of two extremely successful bands by the time he is at the young age of thirty-seven, Mark Tremonti has accomplished things with his guitar that most musicians only dream of. The Alter Bridge shredder has a passion for being the best, and enjoying every bit of life that is thrown at him. If you ask me, anyone who can be good with pinball machines is a master of a whole different kind. Hard Rock Reviews’ Aaron Manogue talked to the ex-Creed, current Alter Bridge guitarist to talk about his custom PRS Tremonti guitar, his passion for the bumpers and a possible Creed reunion next year.

Manogue: I’ve heard that you’re really into collecting pinball machines. How did something like that come about for you?

Tremonti: When I bought my first house I went out and bought a pinball machine. Just driving by places thinking it would be cool to have a pinball machine in the game room. It was a Stern South Bar machine and I fell in love with it. I sold that one because I realized there are so many better machines out there. It’s probably been about fourteen years now and ever since I’ve been a real big fan of pinball. So I got online and researched the best machines and went to a bunch of different shops. I have a friend of mine, Jack, who owns the biggest pinball distribution company in the U.S., called PinballSales.com, and I’ve got a bunch of machines from him. I just kind of fell in love with it because it’s kind of a like a musical instrument because you can master a machine like you can an instrument.

Manogue: Tell me about your Tremonti PRS guitar. What’s it like to have your own custom guitar that you helped design and build?

Tremonti: I say this all the time but it’s probably the thing I’m most proud of is my signature guitar. It’s one of my biggest accomplishments I think. Looking back on my career, one of my best moments was opening that case to the first guitar that was actually my own. That was just amazing! To me, it’s the best guitar in the world because it has exactly what I need. I’m also a big fan of Fender Stratacasters and Telecasters and all kinds of guitars but the PRS single cut with my pickups in it just sounds amazing. I’m absolutely thrilled that so many other people love it too.

You can read the full interview HERE. You can find out further details on ALTER BRIDGE tour dates at THIS LOCATION.

Indegoot Entertainment, the management company that represents BLACK STONE CHERRY and THEORY OF A DEADMAN, sent a couple of its interns out on the road with a video camera to capture both bands on The Carnival of Madness tour. You can see some of that footage below:

The clip also features label mates ALTER BRIDGE doing a signing! In case you missed it, we
announced an awesome competition today for lucky fans to win tickets to the upcoming
BLACK STONE CHERRY and THEORY OF A DEADMAN tour dates in the UK including a signed guitar
from each band! You can enter that competition at THIS LOCATION.

This November, the biggest tour of the autumn is rolling into the UK – headlined by ALTER BRIDGE and with support from BLACK STONE CHERRY and THEORY OF A DEADMAN – and we’ve teamed up with all three bands to offer you some incredible prizes.

PRIZE ONE – ALTER BRIDGE
Includes a meet and greet with members of all the bands at a show of your choice, two tickets to the show AND a PRS SE Mark Tremonti signature guitar signed by ALTER BRIDGE! You can get all the details of the PRS SE Mark Tremonti model right HERE.

PRIZE TWO – BLACK STONE CHERRY
Includes a meet and greet with members of all the bands at a show of your choice, two tickets to the show AND a 25th Anniversary PRS SE SC245 guitar signed by BLACK STONE CHERRY! You can get all the details of the 25th Anniversary PRS SE SC245 model right HERE.

PRIZE THREE – THEORY OF A DEADMAN
Includes a meet and greet with members of all the bands at a show of your choice, two tickets to the show AND a Gibson SG Special signed by THEORY OF A DEADMAN! You can get all the details of the Gibson SG Special right HERE.

Answer the question and fill out your details at THIS LOCATION to be in with a chance of winning.

We’ve selected the winners for the DREAM THEATER and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Facebook competitions that we ran (HERE) and we’re happy to announce that the winners are as follows:

The lucky winner of the rare and signed DREAM THEATER goodies is Euan Doyle. And the ten lucky winners of the promo CDs by THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA are:

Chas Gilbert
Julie McWilliams
Scott Hawe
Chris Baggett
Jessica Wilkinson
David Strain
Alison Wakefield
Craig Jenkins
John Blair
Ellen Bennion

Congratulations, guys! We’ll be in touch to organise delivery of the prizes. Keep checking in for more wicked prize give aways and if you haven’t entered the competitions that we currently have running, see below for what’s on offer:

MACHINE HEAD
WITHIN TEMPTATION

Metal Hammer has published the first full-length review of MACHINE HEAD’s new album Unto the Locust and it’s AWESOME. Joel McIver’s had the following to say in his review:

“Truly iconic metal bands come along only once or twice in each generation, and if Metallica and Slayer are the groups who stand tallest from the 1980s, then surely Slipknot and Machine Head are their 1990s equivalents. All four came out of the blocks with planet-levelling intensity, endured periods off the creative boil and finally attained ‘classic’ status – but of the four, only Machine Head can honestly claim to still be making the best music of their lives. And make no mistake, that’s what Unto the Locust is: the most accomplished album that Robb Flynn, Phil Demmel, Adam Duce and Dave McClain have ever recorded, alongside their two career-framing records, Burn My Eyes and The Blackening. Like the former, Unto the Locust boasts a sonic palette overflowing with box-fresh ideas; like the latter, the album is a storm of complex arrangements and riffs, compiled by musicians who have gained absolute command of their vision. It’s a breathtaking work.

“Right from the off it’s obvious that Machine Head are out to take chances, and consequences be damned…Cherish Unto the Locust: you’ll be living with it for a long time. There appears to be no end to Machine Head’s inspiration at this point: God only knows what they’ll come up with next.”

You can read the full review over at THIS LOCATION. The Metal Hammer Unto the Locust fanpack is released on the 26th of September with the Special edition being released on the 24th of October. You can find pre-order details HERE.

Got a question for Machine Head? CLICK HERE to submit your question and maybe the band will pick your question to answer in an upcoming ‘Ask the Artist’ feature!

The weekend before their latest album, In Waves, was released, TRIVIUM were on the move. They played the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, then flew to the UK to perform at the O2 Arena in London (opening for Iron Maiden), then returned home to the US to resume their stint on this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour in Oklahoma City on August 9, the day the album was released in the US. As part of the 3 gigs, 3 countries and 2 continents footage, the band were filmed on their tour bus, backstage and performing that day in Oklahoma, which you can see below:

The footage from the German and UK dates is up online too, which you can see below:

Wacken Festival, Germany:

Supporting Iron Maiden at The O2, London:

And in case you missed it, Matt Heafy posted a guitar lesson on ultimate-guitar.com the other day. He writes, “In this lesson, I will be chatting about the fundamentals of rhythm guitar playing; chatting about song-writing, the songs that helped shape my rhythm guitar style and exercise routine, and creating some hybrid-exercise-riffs based off of some TRIVIUM songs.” He talks about gear and the importance of listening to many types of music and then rounds up the lesson with exercises based on the songs “Ascendancy” and “Down from the Sky.”

Check out the video at this LOCATION.

TRIVIUM‘s latest album, In Waves, is out now and can be purchased from iTunes or Play.com.

MASTODON guitarist Bill Kelliher admitted to MusicRadar recently that he didn’t listen to the band’s first four albums much once they were finished. “My attitude was, I made the records; they’re for other people now.” But there’s something about the Atlanta quartet’s newest CD, The Hunter, that appeals to him: “It puts a big smile on my face. I listen to it, and I’m loving it. It takes me on a journey.” Joe Bosso’s article describes The Hunter as having ‘…shorter, tighter, hallucinogenic thrill rides that deliver plenty of sonic surprises, it’s an invigorating experience that gains momentum with each cut’ and we agree! You can read the full interview with Bill over at THIS LOCATION and check out MusicRadar’s track by track of the album HERE.

You can hear Spectrelight from The Hunter in news that we posted earlier this week HERE and you can find pre-order details for the album by CLICKING HERE.The Hunter is out on the 26th of September.

MEGADETH revealed the album artwork and tracklisting for their ucoming album TH1RT3EN yesterday, which you can read about at THIS LOCATION. The album is due for release on the 31st of October but if you’re after a MEGADETH fix before that date, the band are releasing Public Enemy No. 1 as a digital single on the 13th of September, which also happens to be Dave Mustaine’s birthday! Keep checking in for further album news and MEGADETH updates!

You can see large versions of the album artwork by clicking the below links:

TH1RT3EN
Public Enemy No. 1

Multi-platinum rock band NICKELBACK will be releasing new album, ‘Here and Now’ on November 21st through Roadrunner Records, a Warner Music Group label.

Bluesman KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD is set for a one-off show in London, to promote his recently released and critically acclaimed album, ‘How I Go‘.