If you haven't yet listened to Currents' new album The Way It Ends, and you're in any way metal-inclined, you need to hear it. The Connecticut five-piece offer an onslaught of self-penned "death-infused metalcore" over the album's 11 ferocious tracks, which are certain to get your head banging and, when allowed once more, the pits spinning.
The record is a shining example of metal guitar work par excellence, highlights of which can be found in fourth track, Monsters - which guitarist Chris Wiseman joins Guitar World today to play through.
He blazes through its demonically drop-tuned riffs, dissonant passages and dizzying guitar solos with startling ease, illustrating why he's one of metalcore's finest six- (or seven-) stringers.
Wiseman plays a Ibanez RGD71AL 7-string electric guitar fitted with D'Addario strings and Seymour Duncan Fusion Edge pickups, which runs through an instance of a JST Toneforge Guilty Pleasure amp modeler.
"On this song, I really wanted to combine aspects of heavy arena rock with some of the more experimental elements we've used in the past," he says. "We tune down to Drop E on this one, an octave below standard, which gives a super thick sound.
"I can still take advantage of the full neck of the guitar, hitting high notes very frequently and even throw in a fun little guitar solo towards the end. It's definitely my favorite track we've done to date."
Currents' latest album The Way It Ends is available now via SharpTone records.
