bloc
tha vagina finda
Saw that Melodyk video just yesterday for the first time and I'm officially in love with this Richie Allen fellow.
The Heavy Metal Ninjas (NZ ibby shredders)
- Thread starter xCaptainx
- Start date
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Uh...any endorsed artist can commission a custom from the LACS. They just have to pay. Very few artists are getting free guitars. From any company.
xCaptainx
Dr Djodson
90% of endorsed artists do not get free products.
You endorse a product because you love it, NOT because you want free gear.
Richie has a long history of some BEAUTIFUL Ibanez guitars. Like this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX0GO0k5BNM (awesome cover too, btw)
Most companies have various tier based endorsement structures.
I'm very fortunate to be endorsed by quite a few companies. I would never accept an endorsement simply to receive a custom build. 99% of your time, effort, name and brand is put into promoting the products customers have access to for a start!
CrushingAnvil
Ironically enough, now in Jesus Land
Nothing stands out. His signal is boring and the phrasing is above average at the most i.e. a little less than boring. I've just seen stuff like this so many times. He's just another 'quite good guitar player'. He's helped himself quite a lot by using good audio and video capture methods. The last thing I want to do come off like a c-nt, but yeah...this is just what I think.
Nour Ayasso
Well-Known Member
Lol never said for free read my post. definitely an awesome cover tho haha
I see man, I assumed that's what you meant by samey but wasn't sure. That's the only thing I'd argue about is that, I agree that a lot of stuff has been played before but their sound as a whole is really different from others. But I'm sure you could list a band that sounds similar so not really arguing haha and yeah not a c-nt man I respect your opinion! A lot of people have that kind of view on music but I just don't. I just like it aaaaaall xD
geekusa
Well-Known Member
I'm afraid this is going to be a classic Crushing Anvil post:
I've never been impressed with these guys. It all just sounds so samey
To each his own. I just think its sick as damn to hear Becker-ish leads over 8-string rhythms!
TheShreddinHand
Uber Stringer
Exactly! It's Vai + Becker over crushing metal riffs. Works for me!
slapnutz
Well-Known Member
As a kiwi gotta represent my boy Ritchie. New vids from Namm.
Extremely clean and tight playing as always.
Dat circular vibrato again.
Extremely clean and tight playing as always.
Dat circular vibrato again.
Bloody_Inferno
Silence is Violence
Got to see the Ninjas over the weekend with Plini and Teramaze. I'm gonna cop hate for this but... 
on.
Great musicianship from all members and Richie in particular shows total domination on the guitar: pretty much got Vai's style down pat. And boy do they put on a great live show.
However, I felt disappointed that I didn't enjoy the show as much as I wanted to. It really bummed me out. And it didn't take long to figure out why: it was the songwriting.
Some standouts like Melodyk were cool, but all the rest of the material sounded the same. It was the usual syncopated detuned low open string riff after another. It didn't help that the rhythm guitarist and bassist had only one time to shine before going back to the root notes again. Hell, the backing track played more interesting parts. It started to feel less like songs and more like backing vehicles for Richie to just shred away over. Even certain cool memorable melodic hooks disappears when another blazing solo happens after the last one. And having to listen to that for 45 minutes gets old fast.
That all sounds negative, but I still really enjoyed the good bits. Hell, I'm just happy seeing players who can play circles over me up close and personal. But all the stuff I was disappointed with are the very reasons why I've been put off by a lot of modern instrumental music.
But if that's your sort of thing, definitely go see them live.
on. Great musicianship from all members and Richie in particular shows total domination on the guitar: pretty much got Vai's style down pat. And boy do they put on a great live show.
However, I felt disappointed that I didn't enjoy the show as much as I wanted to. It really bummed me out. And it didn't take long to figure out why: it was the songwriting.
Some standouts like Melodyk were cool, but all the rest of the material sounded the same. It was the usual syncopated detuned low open string riff after another. It didn't help that the rhythm guitarist and bassist had only one time to shine before going back to the root notes again. Hell, the backing track played more interesting parts. It started to feel less like songs and more like backing vehicles for Richie to just shred away over. Even certain cool memorable melodic hooks disappears when another blazing solo happens after the last one. And having to listen to that for 45 minutes gets old fast.
That all sounds negative, but I still really enjoyed the good bits. Hell, I'm just happy seeing players who can play circles over me up close and personal. But all the stuff I was disappointed with are the very reasons why I've been put off by a lot of modern instrumental music.
But if that's your sort of thing, definitely go see them live.
CaptainD00M
Lungsman
As a Kiwi who flew the coop (intentional ironic pun) its really great to see that these guys have managed to get some notoriety on the international scene. NZ is a small pond and its very easy to get stuck in the 'World Famous in NZ and Aus' category. Plus Ritchie has some mad chops, one of those 2013 vids reminded me of Loomis in a good way. I'm not such a shred guy these days but respect for a fellow Kiwi, Ca is a long way from Otahuhu
Its also good to see a that he's of Pacific Island/Maori descent too, as generally everyone in Europe associates them with Rugby wins (Thats like american football only without pads )
Its also good to see a that he's of Pacific Island/Maori descent too, as generally everyone in Europe associates them with Rugby wins (Thats like american football only without pads
)
dongh1217
Well-Known Member
Richie Allan is the man!
The new song is even better IMO
Nour Ayasso
Well-Known Member
Bloody_Inferno
Silence is Violence
Really?
It was a matter of time that I'll catch some hate with my review, but to respond: Yes. Really. To each his own I guess. Look, clearly I wasn't the first person to say how 'samey' the music is in this very thread. And as I said, I still enjoyed the show. And I really tried to like the songs, but I just felt disappointed, especially when considering Teramaze and Plini were in the same lineup.
Maybe I'm just tired of the whole djent based instrumental music. Which is odd because clearly I enjoyed Plini's set more. Maybe I'm not familiar with their songs enough. Maybe I feel that despite liking the Ninjas, I still felt their songs sound like it was aimed only for the bedroom guitarist demographic, which a majority of that kind of music sounds more like shred exhibitions than actual songs and those doesn't transition well in a live environment.
At least the Ninjas have the saving grace of the ninja gimmick, flawless musicianship and actually putting on a great live show. But hey, they're still playing and writing music so they're still evolving as songwriters, personally I think the best of what the band has to offer has yet to come. And I'd still recommend seeing then live, especially for guitarists.
Nour Ayasso
Well-Known Member
No I'm not questioning your opinion, you enjoying the show, or your particular taste in music. I'm not hating either, just really surprised to read "It was the usual syncopated detuned low open string riff after another" when practically 50%+ of the music is lead melodies with soft/rock backing rhythms/melodies. Every song that has djent riffs in them only last a few measures to support the main theme/lead before switching back to a solo phrase. You refer to them as a djent band when they hardly put that into their music and have a strong focus in leading melodies and solos. Just strange that it seems like we're hearing two completely different sounds, then again I've listened to their full album and ep not just what they played live (wiiiish I could see em live )
)
If you're wondering why the music seems all about him it's because he writes the parts for and plays and records all the instruments on his albums, epic dude!
There's some serious talent in that band Brandon Reihana is an incredible player and songwriter in his own right, and the rest of the guys are killer too!
There's some serious talent in that band Brandon Reihana is an incredible player and songwriter in his own right, and the rest of the guys are killer too!
TelegramSam
7-string Understudy
Anyone got an ETA on new Ninjas stuff? Aching to hear s'more, fell in love with HMN as quickly as I did with Vai when I first heard Alien Love Secrets
TheShreddinHand
Uber Stringer
To be fair, I had to listen to Interstellar Abduction several times before the melodies started clicking in my head and I had them mostly committed to memory. The first few listens I thought a lot of the stuff sounded 'samey' too, but not after several listens. I could certainly see how one could come away with that from a live show. But man when these guys click, it's infectious. I can't wait for some more music too.
patdavidmusic
Well-Known Member
Saw these lads the other week with Plini, such a great show,
They jammed together at the end of the night, far out they can play, amazing
They jammed together at the end of the night, far out they can play, amazing
Bloody_Inferno
Silence is Violence
Nour Ayasso
Well-Known Member
^ That was f*cking fantastic!! Man I love live jams/improv 
Did they play new stuff live or something? I know they're righting a second album but didn't know anything surfaced >__>
