Mike Stone is an American heavy metal guitarist, best known for his previous involvement in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche. He joined Queensrÿche for their 2003 Tribe tour, and made his first appearance on the 2003 album Tribe, with writing credits for the song 'Losing Myself'. Stone was the guitarist for the rock band Speed-X, and currently the guitarist and backup vocalist of the alternative punk rock band, The Stick People.
Mariusz Duda is a Polish musician and composer best known as the bassist and vocalist in the band Riverside.
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Currently a solo artist, he was the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosion and No-Man. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Wilson has made music prolifically and earned critical acclaim. His honours include four nominations for Grammy Awards: twice with Porcupine Tree, once with his collaborative band Storm Corrosion and once as a solo artist. In 2017 The Daily Telegraph described him as 'a resolutely independent artist' and 'probably the most successful British artist you've never heard of'.
Jason Curtis Newsted is an American musician who was the bassist of American heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. Beginning his career with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986, he successfully auditioned with Metallica to succeed the deceased Cliff Burton. Newsted performed on the albums ...And Justice for All (1988), Metallica (1991), Load (1996), and Reload (1997), the most album appearances among Metallica's bassists.
Joseph Satriani is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, including Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan, and Alex Skolnick; he then went on to have a successful solo music career. He is a 15-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold over 10 million albums, making him the bestselling instrumental rock guitarist of all time.
Mattias Bernt Johannes Eklundh, also known as IA, is a Swedish guitarist and vocalist. He is known for his work with Freak Kitchen, Jonas Hellborg and Art Metal, and he has also produced several noted solo Freak Guitar albums released by Steve Vai and Favored Nations, and holds his annual Freak Guitar Camp in the woods of Sweden every summer for dedicated guitar players from all over the world. He was also prominently featured playing his trademark-style solos on the first four Soilwork albums.
Devin Garrett Townsend is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also had an extensive solo career and has released a total of 25 albums across all of his projects as of 2020.
Vegard Sverre Tveitan, better known as Ihsahn, is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer, best known for his work with black metal band Emperor. Tveitan is also a founding member of Thou Shalt Suffer, where he played guitar and keyboard in addition to vocal duties, and Peccatum, a project in collaboration with his wife and fellow musician Heidi Solberg Tveitan, also known as Starofash. Since 2006, Tveitan has primarily devoted himself to solo albums and occasional guest appearances.
Martin Adam Friedman is an American guitarist, known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for heavy metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well as his 13 solo albums and tours. Friedman has resided in Tokyo, Japan since 2003, where he has appeared on over 700 Japanese television programs such as Rock Fujiyama, Hebimeta-san, Kouhaku uta gassen and Jukebox English. He has released albums with several record labels, including Avex Trax, Universal, EMI, Prosthetic, and Shrapnel Records.
Charles Michael Schuldiner was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He founded the band Death in 1983 and was their lead vocalist until his death in 2001. His obituary in the January 5, 2002, issue of UK's Kerrang! magazine described him as 'one of the most significant figures in the history of metal.' Schuldiner was ranked No. 10 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists in 2009 and No. 20 in March 2004 Guitar World's 'The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists'. In 1987, Schuldiner founded the publishing company Mutilation Music, affiliated with performance rights organization BMI. Schuldiner died in 2001 of a brain tumor.
Richard 'Hen' Henshall is a British progressive metal multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for being the guitarist and keyboardist for the bands To-Mera, Haken, Nova Collective, and Opinaut. He has released one album (Exile) with To-Mera, six with Haken, and one solo album. He has also released EPs and singles: Oxygen, Redemption, Earthbound, and Restoration. Henshall was classically trained on the piano from the age of seven. By the age of 11 to 12, he started playing the guitar on a self-taught basis. He also had drums and clarinet classes.
Brian Patrick Carroll, known professionally as Buckethead, is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans genres, including progressive metal, funk, blues, bluegrass, ambient, and avant-garde music. He performs primarily as a solo artist, although he collaborated with a wide variety of artists such as Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Serj Tankian, Bill Moseley, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen, That 1 Guy, Bassnectar, and Skating Polly. He was also a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004. He has 315 studio albums, four special releases, and one EP. He performed on more than fifty albums by other artists.
Joseph Andrew Duplantier is a French-American musician and record producer, best known as the rhythm guitarist and vocalist of metal band Gojira, which he formed with his younger brother Mario. He is also the former bassist of Cavalera Conspiracy, to which he was invited by Max Cavalera.
Daniel Gildenlöw is a Swedish musician and songwriter. He is best known as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for the progressive rock band Pain of Salvation. In the band, he is the main songwriter, lead singer, lead guitar player, and the mastermind behind each album's concept. He was also an official member of the band the Flower Kings but was forced to leave before their 2005 US tour because he was opposed to US-VISIT which requires submitting one's own biometric data first before entering the country.
Michael Anthony LePond III is an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist of the progressive metal band Symphony X. He is also the bass guitarist of the New York-based metal, band Dead on Arrival. The group issued an album, Alive and Kickin, on the independent Polo label in 1996. He can be heard on all Symphony X releases since the 2000 album V: The New Mythology Suite. He was formerly a member of the New Jersey band Rattlebone, which opened for many national acts and released a six-song album in 1997.
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of progressive metal band Opeth, and the former vocalist of death metal supergroup Bloodbath. He was also guitarist for the 'one-off' band Steel, and is part of the collaboration Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson.
John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist, composer and producer. He is best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced all of Dream Theater's albums from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) to Distance Over Time (2019), and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011). Petrucci has also released two solo albums: Suspended Animation (2005) and Terminal Velocity (2020).
Arjen Anthony Lucassen is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as the guitarist and backing vocalist of Dutch band Bodine as Iron Anthony, before joining Vengeance in 1984. After eight years he left the band, wanting to go into a more progressive direction, and released two years later an unsuccessful solo album entitled Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy under the nickname Anthony.