• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

Guitar Hero JOE STUMP Talks About 'Speed Metal Messiah'

September 8, 2004

Shred guitar cult hero and Berklee School of Music professor Joe Stump will release his new album, "Speed Metal Messiah", through Lion Music on September 24. Stump recently spoke to Vinaya Saksena of Maximum Metal about the upcoming CD.

"The new record's definitely a step above everything else I've ever done," Stump said. "[It's] not all that different stylistically than my past records, but maybe even a bit more neoclassical. [There's] one cool Hendrixy thing towards the end of the record and a really nice ballad, but even the ballad's got somewhat of a baroque thing to it."

A label change from Leviathan to Lion has delayed the album's release slightly. Nevertheless, Stump says he is very happy with the outcome of the new album, particularly its strength of song and sound quality. He also revealed plans to make an album that pays tribute to some of his earliest influences, such as DEEP PURPLE, RORY GALLAGHER, and of course, JIMI HENDRIX.

"Sometime this year I'm gonna do a retro record where I'm playing some cover tunes and some original bluesy instrumentals and then maybe a couple of retro hard rock instrumentals with vocals," Stump said.

Instrumental guitar albums are often stigmatized as having a narrow appeal. Stump, however, feels that one need not be a guitarist or guitar enthusiast in order to enjoy "Speed Metal Messiah".

"There's lots of really insane neoclassical stuff and baroque induced stuff, but a lot of really nice melodies on the new record too," he said. "Too many of the shred guys make these records that sound just like exercises. You know, [on this album] there's cool riffs and there's melodies and stuff like that you can latch onto in addition to all the crazy playing."

(Thanks: Maximum Metal)

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).