This article series is about the tools of popular guitarists. What are their favorite guitars and how is it related to them? This time with Nunslaughter (Malum – bass und Tormentor -guitar)
Pics by Evan Duly
Tormentor:
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I received my first guitar as a gift when I was 14 years old. It was a red Aria Pro II strat. I was also given a VHS with some basic guitar lessons on it. I learned basic power chords and how to slide them around to make a song. I remember the teacher being very unenthusiastic but effective.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
My musical life is rooted in punk and hardcore, and I love classic rock as well. The Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Misfits, and even some 90s punk like NOFX, Propaghandi, and Strung Out are always playing in my car. I love Thin Lizzy, Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Dio, Motorhead, and AC/DC. I’m also a fan of older Sepultura, Slayer, Entombed, and Unleashed. My favorite guitarist of all time is Eddie Van Halen, for obvious reasons. I also admire the playing of Scott Gorham, Vivian Campbell, and Dave Mustaine.
Pics by Evan Duly
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I own several guitars of all types. I don’t know exactly how many, but probably around 10. My favorite model is my ESP ltd Phoenix, which is my daily player. It holds up under some very satanic conditions and takes a beating every night. I rarely need to repair it, and it will stay in tune after being tossed in a van after a gig. I also love my 90’s era Ibanez guitars.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
For me, a mid-90s Peavey 5150 with a little boost in front is about as close to perfect as I can get. On the green crunch channel of course. The lead channel is too narrow and noisy for me. I also love my Mesa dual rectifier, but it needs some pedals to sound tight and not muddy. The JCM 800 is also a great amp. I could play any of these amps every night and be happy.
Pics by Evan Duly
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
As the technology improves, it no longer matters like it used to. In a perfect situation, I will almost always choose a tube amp over a modeler. However, when you take travel and backline into account, sometimes a modeler is more reliable and easier and much cheaper for flying.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
On our new album, SATANIC CHAOS LEGIONS, I used a ESP LTD Black Metal Phoenix with a Fishman Fluence Modern pickup. Then into a Klon Centaur copy into my Peavey 5150 with a noise gate in the effects loop. This runs into a Mesa Boogie oversized 4×12 with a Shure sm57 and an AKG c414b for mics.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
I’ll always choose an ESP guitar. They play great out of the box with very little setup. They set the standard for affordable and reliable guitars. I play very aggressively and they tend to take the beating and ask for more.
Pics by Evan Duly
Malum:
When did you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
Guitar is my first instrument so I have never actually played bass in any bands before Nunslaughter. I’ve played bass on albums of previous bands when our
bassist was MIA or some bullshit so I guess I’ve always dabbled.I do remember my first bass since in was only a few years ago! When I first joined Nunslaughter, Tormentor let me use his ESP LTD Surveyor ‘87. Excellent bass! Great action, great neck, takes a beating and stayed in tune! I only had guitar gear at that time so once I had a little extra money I picked up the ESP LTD Black Metal M-4 and I fucking love it! Super fast neck for shredding, one active EMG pickup, one nob, great bridge, stays in tune even after we pour blood all over it and beat it with a crucifix! Also of course I have my Pierre’s spikey guitar strap with the Shure Wireless so we can run around like Satanic Lunatics on the stage!
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
My influences are kind of more based on style more than anything technical or crazy ability. But you know of course the classics like Lemmy, I enjoy his bass in Hawkwind especially! Then you know, Steve Harris from Iron Maiden is obviously brilliant. I’m personally more of a fan of players who use picks. I like the attack of the plastic meeting the steel it’s more aggressive and violent! I would definitely put King Ov Hell in my list for his work in Gorgoroth and Godseed. I love punk and hardcore so I’d definitely pick someone like Matt Freeman from Rancid and Op Ivy. His playing is just insane and always doing something different than the guitars to spice it up with some gnarly walking bass lines. I can’t play like that but my wife Emma knows a few Rancid bass lines, she’s actually better at bass than I am! Fat Mike from NOFX also is a great bassist. His tone always cuts through the mix and just throws a great sense of melody in their songs.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
We play ESP and ESP LTD. The Black Metal series M-4 is currently my only bass and I love it! I would say any of the ESP LTD Black Metal series are my favorites! Hey ESP we love ya!!
Pics by Evan Duly
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
Ease of playing. A great tapered neck for me personally. That’s why I love the ESP LTD Black Metal basses. Easy to play but effective. Top glow in the dark fret
markers are awesome in the live setting on a dim lit stage with smoke and Satanic shit happening everywhere! Tuning stability is crucial live so great strings helps I only play DR strings . They are the brightest and most solid for tuning in a hot moist environment. Taking the abuse of touring and traveling is definitely a key factor for me.Doing fly in gigs is always a sketchy factor for gear so having a good case also helps. Travel can be rough on instruments so solid state amps obviously are best for bass especially the Dark Glass gear. Top notch stuff!
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
I used my ESP LTD Black Metal M-4 for all the tracking on Nunslaughter’s new album Satanic Chaos Legions. Dark Glass exclusively!!! The Dark Glass Microtubes900 amp was the main tone for the album. The Alph Omega pedal is part of the live rig set up and was also used on the album when we needed more gain!!! Their tone is crushing for bass and it’s cool because you can hear the tone sizzle its sonic destruction underneath the buzzsaw shredding guitars on the new album and sometimes bass gets lost in the mix for me on most recordings. Dark Glass just has that unrelenting low end crunch! Love it!
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
Well if we are taking any bass? I’d definitely go with the ESP Tom Araya FRX. That’s Quite the bass and I actually got to play one. My buddy TA from Goatwhore has one and let me shred it! What an instrument!
