[PRESS RELEASE] Benevolent Lead Guitarist Hadi Sarieddine now on AMT Electronic's Official Artist roster

Hadi Sarieddine, Lead guitarist of extreme experimental metal band Benevolent, has been added to AMT Electronics' lineup of official artists, marking him as the first Lebanese musician to be featured on the Russian comany's roster of artists.

Hadi Sarieddine had this to say about AMT's products, "I've recently picked up the E-1 from AMT Electronics' line of Legend Amps and was shocked by the quality from the get-go"

"The E-1's tone fits perfectly with the tone that I go for with Benevolent and I absolutely cannot wait to take this beast out live, and the best part is it can fit in my guitar gig bag's pocket" 

The Legend Amps series line from AMT Electronics features the emulation of legendary amplifiers in a full analog designed based on JFET technology, all in a stomp box design. The stomp boxes feature 2 output options, one that is a dry signal output and is designed to go directly into the effects return of your amplifier head; while the other output option features an emulated speaker cabinet intended to go directly into the PA or sound card.

Hadi Sarieddine added, "if you were to listen to a clip of how tuneful those little stomp boxes are without being told where all the preamp sounds are coming from, there's no way you'd guess it's coming out of something as small as a cell phone; I've never been so psyched about a tone like this before" 

Benevolent released their debut EP in November 2010, received rave reviews around the region; the band is currently in the recording process of their debut full length record which is due for release with Spellbind Records. You can listen to Benevolent's music on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Benevolent.band

Check out Hadi Sarieddine's profile on AMT Electronics on http://www.amtelectronics.com/artisty/hadi_sarieddine/, and make sure you check the rest of AMT Electronic's products on their website.

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Benevolent mentioned on Blabbermouth.net

So the mother of press mentions has just rolled in for us, BLABBERMOUTH.NET

This is absolutely exciting for us. Do check out the full article below in the link

http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=170025

Thank you all for the support!
Hadi

Andols Herrick (Ex-Chimaira) to record with Benevolent

UAE-based extreme metal band BENEVOLENT to feature ANDOLS HERRICK on upcoming debut Full Length Album

UAE-based metallers Benevolent are in the recording process for their upcoming debut full length album, the band is adding drum-icon Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira) as a featured musician on the album to record one track on the record. Hadi Sarieddine, the band co-founder and lead guitarist states "It is pretty crazy thinking that Andols Herrick is going to be drumming on one of our songs; if I go back in time and tell past-me that this was happening I'd probably get a pretty sarcastic reaction." He added "The last couple of years since we started the band have been absolutely insanely great for us; getting such great reviews for the debut record, getting signed to Spellbind Records, and now this? I can't think that things could be any better for the band, I'm really proud of how things are coming together"

Andols Herrick commented on his work with Benevolent and how this all came together and stated "I was approached by Hadi Sarieddine awhile back about the possibility of tracking drums for Benevolent. I was quite impressed with the quality of the music and vocals."

"I love having the opportunity to work with a great band, who happens to represent the Middle East metal scene very well. I do know it is very vibrant having had the pleasure of performing with Chimaira at the Desert Rock Festival in Dubai back in 2009."

The band hit the Middle East scene with strong waves with the release of their debut EP titled DIVIDED in the year 2010, placing the band as the top names in the metal scene on regional levels garnering fans across the world as well in Europe, USA, Japan and Asia, and Oceania. Benevolent was signed to Spellbind Records in September of 2011 (alongside label mates and Middle East metal icons Nervecell).

The band has provided previous information to the press about the direction of the next album as being a technical, dark, and progressive album that picks up where Divided left off whilst expanding the band's sound identity. Hadi commented on the material further saying "It's definitely a lot more technical than Divided; the songs have a lot going on and while it preserves that sound that we've created in our debut EP this is a step forward on many levels and it tells a story about lots of dark themes with the lyrical and instrumental direction on the album."

As for the specific song that Andols Herrick is recording, Andols commented stating "This song presented numerous rhythmic challenges as I was learning it. If you were a drummer with limited music theory experience, I'd just say "Good luck trying to learn it!" The song is loaded with "over the bar line" guitar riffs, and I found myself, on occasion, discovering some of my transcriptions would be a sixteenth note off here or there!"

The band is set out to release the debut full length through Spellbind Records in the spring of 2012, and will be performing across the Middle East and beyond to promote the new release.

On a final note, the band's frontman and co-founder, Fadi Sarieddine, stated "We all can't wait to share this album with the world; I believe we have a very strong set of new songs and it's going to be great to share the new stuff with the world. Once the album is done, it will be the begin of the next phase of this observation's life cycle, and that is to get it all out there to as many listeners as possible worldwide; we're excited and we absolutely cannot wait!"

To keep up with the band's news and updates be sure to check out their official pages on the links below: (ALSO, BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE BAND'S DEBUT EP WHICH IS AVAILABLE ON FREE DOWNLOAD HERE http://benevolent.bandcamp.com)

http://www.facebook.com/benevolent.band

http://www.twitter.com/benevolent_twitter

http://benevolent.bandcamp.com

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AMT E-1 Test / QUICK REVIEW

Hey guys,

So as you all know I just picked up an AMT Electronics E-1, which is a JFET based preamp in a stomp box design based on the ENGL Fireball gain channel. My one-word review of this is, IT'S NUTS!

Check the video below for my quick demo. It's my Schecter C-7 going straight into the AMT E-1 and that going direct into my soundcard, through Logic and running Kuassa Amplification Kreme's cabs (I also put a very subtle chorus on both sides at 5% mix).

I'll be doing more demos of this in the coming weeks.

In short, plugging into this inspires me to play and makes me write MOAR RIFFS.

Hadi

NEW TOY DAY! AMT ELECTRONICS E-1

Hey guys!

So I just received the pictured baby in the mail today, ordered it from Thomann.de and it’s the AMT Electronics E-1 pedal which is a JFET-based preamp pedal cloning the gain channel of the ENGL Fireball.

It’s the size of my hand, so it’s pretty small (unless I have a big hand, that is), and it’s got five knobs on it so operating it is no rocket science; and even better, getting a sick tone out of this machine is no hard task!

The pedal was designed as a preamp to go into the power amp section of an amplifier, it sounds like it was hand-wired by Satan in his gear workshop in deepest lair of hell. 

UNBOXING PHOTOS:

The AMT E-1 also allows you the option of going direct into the mixer out of the cabinet emulated out! But I think this pedal shines when taken seriously and plugged right into a tube power amp OR into an impulse response on your computer.

I’ll post up some clips soon! I haven’t had a chance to demo this baby yet, but I know it’s its own beast from all the research I’ve done prior to purchasing it.

Oh, and, it’s only $129.99; ENGL tone for that much? Get outta here! 

Hadi

Album Blueprints: How Many Cylinders Are You Firing On?

I remember having a conversation with Sajid ‘Sarj’ Masood, Benevolent’s co-producer, (and one of the main factors that brought our sound to the shape that it came out through); we basically were talking about the upcoming Benevolent album and this was way early on in the writing process, months and months ago, and the idea of having a “blueprint” for the album came about. This would basically be like a rough mission statement of what we would like to achieve from the album as far as what elements are coming into play, and I believe this has truly served the write process well and definitely put things into perspective.

This was a great thing for me to have personally because I’m always anxious and stressing about the very little details going into the album’s writing process and what elements the songs are entertaining; is it too much? Is it too little? Is it just about right?

When we sat down and figured out a rough blueprint for the upcoming record it changed the game plan positively because I felt like I was writing with more purpose, I was writing songs for them to be included on the record instead of writing songs off the fly with little perspective or vision as far as how they serve the big picture of the album’s sound.

I remember us doing something similar unconsciously during the Divided EP sessions where Sarj came up and said “Alright, you’ve got a couple songs that have this specific feel; now you need another song that sounds a bit on that other send of your style and push things in that direction.” The best part of it all is that I find myself getting super inspired by things that those around me are saying about the music I’m writing, so it makes me consider things from a very broad view; although, I think a musician is truly able to get as close as possible to listen to his/her music for what it really is, rather than be stuck in a bubble thinking it sounds a certain way, much kudos go out to that person!

Keep producing!
Hadi

It's happening!

Hey guys!

So we [Benevolent] are getting ready to start tracking the new album, the final collection of songs going into the production is a fine mix of hard-hitting, melancholy, and progressive songs with lots of chugging and shimmering melodies; I CAN’T WAIT!

Basically, what’s going to happen is we’re going to get on with tracking down the bass to scratch MIDI drums. I really can’t wait to get down to designing the bass tone and getting on with tracking things up, I think the guys are gonna rip through this album and it’s going to be a very fun experience.

I am pretty sure we’re going to be experimenting with some of the song structure when need be, in addition to adding up some more enticing layers than there already is. It’s a whole lot like cooking, you’ve gotta have the right ingredients in there, but even with the right ingredients there has to be a control as to not have that stuff on there with an overload.

We’re going to start with the song with the working title of PODISBACK, which actually is probably my favorite song on the record right now. It’s as heavy as Chuck Norris’s beard and has a very cool overall drive with lots of textures and an interesting dreamy selection of sounds.

So yea, we start with tracking the bass, and then get on with doing guitars; while simultaneously working on the preproduction work for the vocal bits. It’s exciting, we’re nervous and excited!

STAY TUNED!!!!

Hadi