It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the epoch of twelve foot tall guillotines with a Sabian APX cymbal as a blade. It was Winter NAMM 2008, but from the looks of things, you'd think it was Winter NAMM 1789 in Paris.

Something about the guillotine with a cymbal blade seemed to really get drummers going. Maybe there is a correlation between the fact that the APX cymbals are specifically made for hard hitting metal drummers, and all hard hitting metal drummers love a good beheading.

Now the guillotine itself is going on tour, hitting stops at Musikmesse in Frankfurt before making appearances in Las Vegas, Hollywood, Mexico, the UK and finally stopping in Nashville for the Summer NAMM show, June 20-22. Let's go to Stacey Montgomery-Clark who directs marketing over at Sabian for comment:

"The APX guillotine has created a real sensation, and with all the requests we've received from people who want to experience it in person, it seems to have taken on a life of its own. Not only does it clearly communicate the 'APX Cuts Through' message, it's a fun piece for everyone to enjoy."

A variety of drummers already use the APX cymbals including Ray Luzier [who wears David Silviera's shoes in Korn], Neil Sanderson [who hates everything about you, but still, somehow, loves you . . . a puzzling conundrum that Three Days Grace aims to solve], George Kollias [the drummer for Austin, Texas' most famous ancient Egyptian themed death metal band Nile], and John Kelly [who was not impressed by the guillotine because Type O Negative's lead singer / bassist Peter Steele is about a foot taller than the guillotine].