DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci hit New York, Chicago and San Francisco in 72-hours, visiting Guitar Centers and demonstrating his brand-new TC Electronic Dreamscape signature pedal to throngs of fans in each town recently. John told MusicRadar:

“I had a great time. Guitar Center had everything totally together, really pro, and TC was nice enough to put this whole thing on and promote the pedal. That they’re paying so much attention to the pedal and to me is really amazing. And it was great to meet all the fans,” he continues. “People were excited, they were checking out the pedal, buying them. It was a lot of fun. I really loved saying hi to everybody and spending some time with them.”

The Dreamscape is an all-in-one custom stompbox that features chorus, flanger and vibrato effects – is a first for both Petrucci and TC Electronic in that neither the artist nor the company have created a signature pedal before. Read all about the pedal and hear how John tested and tweaked the pedal and who did he work with to develop, it on MusicRadar by pointing your mouse in this direction.

Check out a trailer for the pedal below:

Keep up to date with DREAM THEATER by clicking here.

Controversial US comidian DOUG STANHOPE was interviewed by TNT Magazine the other day and you can now read that interview online. We’ve selected some extracts from the interview, which you can see below:

Why’s your new DVD titled Before Turning The Gun On Himself?

It’s just a cool fucking title. It came from two album titles ago when I wanted to use it, but then there was the huge Virginia Tech shooting, where the guy turned the gun on himself. The record company didn’t want to use that title cos they were afraid that it wasn’t going to get in to box [chain] stores. So I pocketed the title and went with a different record company who let me do what the fuck I want!

Who were your comedy influences?

The guy who made me write my own jokes was Andrew Dice Clay. Not real deep, but the comedy scene was so benign and ‘Jerry Seinfeld’ when Andrew came out. He was raw and filthy and unapologetic. I was a 22-year-old kid and in the perfect state of mind for that.

Comedy is far more mainstream now – how does that make you feel?

It’s a much better way to go if you want to make some money, but I wouldn’t be able to temper it and do shit that got me on TV. If I wanted to sell out I wouldn’t know how to do it.

You did some TV for Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe, though…

Yeah, I don’t know how it came together, whether they found me or my manager found them. I did Screenwipe, which was filmed at the Soho Theatre and then Newswipe – most of that was filmed at my house in Arizona.

Read the full interview on TNT Magazine’s website by clicking here.

Click here to find dates and tickets for Doug’s current UK tour.

Point your mouse in this direction to pick up a copy of DOUG STANHOPE’s latest DVD ‘Before Turning The Gun On Himself’.

HALESTORM are streaming their killer new album ‘The Strange Case Of…‘ over on Live Stream this evening from 9pm. Click here to hear the album and chat to the band LIVE!

Click here to pick up a copy of Halestorm’s EP ‘Hello, It’s Mz Hyde‘.

Point your mouse in this direction to pre-order the band’s upcoming album ‘The Strange Case Of…’.

KO퐌¿N have revelaed a live performance video for the track ‘Chaos Lives In Everything‘ from their new album ‘The Path Of Totality‘. The video is being premiered exclusively in the UK by our friends over at Rock Sound, who also have Jonathan on the cover of their latest issue of the magazine.

Click here to check out the video on Rock Sound’s website.

You can pick up a copy of KO퐌¿N’s latest album ‘The Path Of Totality’ by pointing your mouse in this direction.

Cast your minds back a few weeks when we asked you to submit your questions for Steven and Mikael to answer on camera. Well, we have the first of the 15 questions that the guys chose for you below. The question comes from ‘Aaron R’:

With both of you being such strong musical forces did you ever find there to be an artistic struggle over creative control?

Click here to pre-order your copy of ‘Storm Corrosion’ from Play.com.

It’s almost that time of year when we all drink too much, dance around like idiots, cover ourselves in mud and listen to music louder than a jet engine. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Download 2012 is almost upon us!

To celebrate, we’re offering a FREE 13-track MP3 sampler featuring some of the finest Roadrunner tracks of the last 12 months.

But that’s not all! By downloading the sampler, we’ll enter you in a draw to win 2 tickets to Download 2012.

Our main winner will also win one of three signed, HUGE Download 2008 posters. The other two posters will go to two runners-up, who’ll also receive equally huge Download 2006 posters. Tasty.

The sampler features:

1. Black Stone Cherry – White Trash Millionaire • 2. Soulfly – World Scum • 3. Lamb of God – Ghost Walking • 4. Revoker – Stay Down 5. Royal Republic – Tommy Gun • 6. Kids in Glass Houses – Gold Blood • 7. Trivium – In Waves • 8. DevilDriver – You Make Me Sick 9. Periphery – Passenger • 10. Theory of a Deadman – Lowlife • 11. Machine Head – Locust 12. Megadeth – Public Enemy No 1 • 13. Opeth – The Devil’s Orchard

To download the sampler and enter the draw, simply fill in your details on our facebook page by clicking here…

Metal Hammer Features Editor Amit Sharma got his hands on a copy if the new GOJIRA album yesterday so the mag got him to run his critical ears over the new album ‘L’Enfant Sauvage’ and you can check out some extracts from his track-by-track guide below…

1. Explosia
It only takes Gojira 10 seconds to prove that they are once again back with a record that will melt your ears into a pool of bloody mess.

2. L’Enfant Sauvage
The title track is even faster. Whilst they maintain a perpetual brain-simmering heaviness, there are cleaner melodies that seem to leap out of nowhere and sit above the crushing rhythms, adding a cerebral progressive edge to their signature brand of skull-crushing metal.

3. The Axe
If Mastodon were more death metal influenced, this is what they would sound like… The Axe carries a searching, torch-bearing sense of pilgrimage with a chorus that is hellishly catchy and wouldn’t sound that out of place on Enslaved’s last record Axioma Ethica Odini.

4. Liquid Fire
Liquid Fire picks things up in tempo with apocalyptic sized riffs and Joe Duplantier’s instantly recognisable usage of guitar harmonics.

5. The Wild Healer
The Wild Healer is a short, instrumental track that is pretty mellow for Gojira – it’s atmospheric and spacey. But you know this is just the quiet before the storm.

6. Planned Obsolescence
Planned Obsolescence is a total face-melter, echoing the gloriously heavy, fist-in-the-face noise of Morbid Angel’s Domination but with added intensity.

7. Mouth Of Kala
This is Gojira showing their groovey side, once again stepping out towards the progressive and not far off Mastodon’s heavier work.

8. The Gift Of Guilt
This opens with a tapping lick that is part Angus Young and part Eddie Van Halen, though there’s nothing classic rock about it

9. Pain Is A Master
Another ambient excursion off into more progressive realms. Pain Is A Master lures the listener to a false sense of security… this lullaby turns into a death metal nightmare very, very quickly.

10. Born In Winter
The shimmering structures of Born In Winter are a definite highlight on this record…

11. The Fall
The Fall starts off like something off Nine Inch Nail’s The Fragile before evolving into an acid-marinated anthem that is dark, psychedelic and sickeningly heavy.

Read the full low down over on Metal Hammer’s website by clicking here – we think they may just approve!

Find out more about GOJIRA’s upcoming album by clicking here.

The founder of Marshall, Jim Marshall OBE, has sadly passed away. The following statement has been released via their website:

It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and leader for the past 50 years, Jim Marshall. While mourning the Guv’nor though, we also salute a legendary man who led a full and truly remarkable life.

Jim’s ascent into the history books as ‘the Father of Loud’ and the man responsible for ‘the Sound of Rock’ is a true rags-to-riches tale. Cruelly robbed of his youth by tubercular bones, Jim rose to become one of the four forefathers responsible for creating the tools that allowed rock guitar as we know and love it today to be born. The ground breaking quartet also includes the late, great trio of Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover – together with Jim, they truly are the cornerstones of all things rock.

In addition to the creation of the amps chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes.

While the entire Marshall Amplification family mourns Jim’s passing and will miss him tremendously, we all feel richer for having known him and are happy in the knowledge that he is now in a much better place which has just got a whole lot louder!

Rest in Peace & thank you Jim.

Your memory; the music and joy your amps have brought to countless millions for the past five decades; and that world-famous, omnipresent script logo that proudly bears your name will always live on.

Click here to visiti Marshall’s website.

There are countless Roadrunner artists who use Marshall – the name is eponymous with amplification. It is with heavy hearts and fond memories that we extend our sincerest condolences to the Marshall family from all of us here at Roadrunner. R.I.P, Jim.