Death metal band Through The Eyes Of The Dead (TTEOTD) rolled through Fender headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., earlier this afternoon.

The South Carolina based crew is in town as part of the Thrash and Burn 2010 tour, going down later tonight at the Nile Theater in Phoenix.

Their Feb. 2010 concept album Skepsis is available for purchase here, and if you happen to already own it, TTEOTD says the lyrics are much easier to interpret if you understand the concept.

“The story is a first person view through the main character who has a strong, skeptical view on humanity and reality,” explains the band in a blog on their MySpace page. “He believes that this reality is a mere illusion, and that there are celestial/spiritual forces at work that control this world, and the human race. He has a re-occurring dream of the nearing apocalypse, and inevitable damnation of mankind. The dream starts to drive him towards extreme paranoia, so he begins to search for answers to his odd suspicion. He then becomes channeled by an omen that gives him a vision of the underworld, and how it is the final destiny for the human race. He becomes maniacal at this point and communicates with the omen, pleading for his fate to be spared and that he may be granted the privilege to become a spiritual force like the omen. He returns from the vision…”

Read the rest here.

Legendary funk bassist Bootsy Collins recently established Funk University, an online guitar school for bassists.

“Funk is here to be shared,” said Collins in an online video about the mission statement behind Funk U.

So in keeping with his mission, Collins tells us how to get funky with a pair of Fender pedals that  you’ll hear on his next album, due out March 2011.

“Bet y’all didn’t know that Fender had any cool funked up Bass Pedals did you?” asked Collins. “Well I didn’t either, until I stumbled across these two Fuzz pedals:  the Sub-Lime which made me think I was with James Brown tripping on his set, thinking it was a Bootsy show.

“Or the Fender Fuzz Wah, which really took me back, because it looked like those back-in-the-day pedals which sounded great and you could use them to throw at your drummer when he missed a beat. They are built like a tank.

“Go Fender, Funk away!”

Congratulations to Brent Solem of Minnesota for winning the Rock & Roar Mike Dirnt/Fender Giveaway. His new Squier® by Fender® Mike Dirnt Precision Bass® guitar, a Fender Rumble™ 15 Combo bass amp and Rock Band: Green Day video game are en route.

Fender would also like to congratulate Ruth Fichter of Michigan for winning the Ron Emory Walk that Walk Fender Giveaway. She’ll soon be receiving her Fender ’50s Esquire® guitar, a G-DEC® 3 Fifteen amp and an autographed Walk that Walk CD.

What goes together better than peanut butter and jelly? Depends on who you ask, but for this blog posting, I’ll go with music and beer.

International beer giant Heineken has brought the two together this summer with the Heineken Inspire concert series, which stops in four major U.S. cities this summer: Miami, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

The Miami and Chicago dates are already in the books, but those interested in free beer and great music can catch up with Heineken Inspire tour in New York City on July 30-31 and in Los Angeles on Aug. 27-28.

The concert series features live performances by Cold War Kids (seen below), J Cole, Rogue Wave, Tito El Bambino and Wale, as well as music spun by some of the hottest deejays.

Also, you can learn to rock the house yourself, with free guitar lessons from Fender and a chance to take the new Fender G-DEC® 3 Thirty amp for a spin.

Get your free tickets at Heineken’s Facebook page.

Photo by Kristin Burns

The Smashing Pumpkins kicked off Spin’s weeklong 25^th anniversary celebration with a reported 135-minute set.

In case you missed the live stream, Spin’s William Goodman has provided a lengthy review of the performance.

“’Today,’ ‘Cherub Rock,’ and ‘Hummer,’ all gems from SP’s 1993 breakout second album Siamese Dream, saw the Chicago native manhandle the neck of his Fender Strat (at 6′4″ dude has some big hands), pausing to motion at the sold-out crowd before diving into another solo,” writes Goodman.

“He stepped forward to windmill, a la Pete Townshend, and run the neck of his guitar on a monitor …”

Get the complete review here, and be sure to check out tonight’s live stream of the Flaming Lips starting at 9:15 p.m. EST.