The Greatest Metal Guitarist - Part 2

It may seem unusual that the lesser-known, Seattle based, melodic metal band Nevermore gave rise to one of progressive metal’s most prolific pioneers, but it swiftly became apparent that Jeff Loomis was not another run of the mill metal shredder.

Loomis is primarily influenced by late 80s technicians Jason Becker and Marty Friedman, who’s expansion of the neo-classical style had a profound impact on the young guitarist. Loomis merged these influences with well-crafted metal compositions and exaggerated the more exotic and irreverent aspects of Marty Friedman’s influence; fusing virtuosic, yet melodic shred with sophisticated 7 string riffs which influenced a new wave of progressive and technical metal bands. Let's kick things off with a listen to the style-defining track ‘We Disintegrate’ from Nevermore’s 2000 album ‘Dead Heart In a Dead World’. There are real notes of true compositional genius within the flare of Loomis’s guitar work.

From a playing point, Loomis is a big fan of altered and exotic scales, chiefly the diminished scale (from which he also forms the basis for some of his riffs and melodies). He is also characterised by his creative sweeping; moving away from the more cliched horizontal ideas to favour 3-octave patterns spread across the neck which he delivers with staggering precision at incredible speeds. To get a flavour of Loomis in full swing, take a listen to another Nevermore track ‘Born’ which sees Jeff lay down some of his best solo work.

If you want to replicate his clean yet saturated tone, Jeff has had past high gain affiliations with both Peavey (XXX heads) and Krank (namely the Krankenstein head). Since 2008 he has exclusively used a full range of Engl amps. He has been consistent in using a Maxon 808 or equivalent Tubescreamer to drive the amp harder, in addition to an MXR stereo chorus and, more recently, a Horizon Precision Drive pedal. For guitars; during his Nevermore days, Loomis used both Ibanez and ESP (mainly 7 string models), although he now has a signature model - the Jeff Loomis C-7FR produced by Schecter guitars which he uses in conjunction with a production line C-7.

For further exploration of Jeff’s playing, his solo work is well worth a look. His new tenure with melodic metal band Arch Enemy will also give you another access point to his repertoire.

His work as a virtuosic technician is well documented but what separates Mark Tremonti from the pack is undoubtedly his Grammy Award-winning songwriting prowess. Throughout his work with both Creed and Alter Bridge, Tremonti has found a magical blend of bone crunchingly, down-tuned heavy riffs blended with radio-friendly hooks and melodies. His compositional skills have not left his guitar playing unaffected either, ensuring his solos (even whilst improvising) have a definite structure and outline the chords or underlying harmony perfectly. He has often advocated the benefits of composing lines or solos away from the guitar, using your voice to sing a solo first or simply map it out in your head before transferring your ideas to the instrument. This is a great way of removing any mechanical ‘obstacles’ from the creative process.

Tremonti encapsulates all the traits of a consummate modern player, having developed during the boom of instructional videos and resources. He is a virtuoso with full mastery of modern and progressive metal techniques but, unlike many players, he is still ever conscious of their function and context within a piece of music. This extends to his lyrical use of sweep picked arpeggio lines and rhythmically interesting scale based runs. Let’s take a listen to ‘Down To My Last’ - note how the solo is both memorable and hots all the parts of underlying chord changes!

Tremonti admits to approaching the guitar as a ‘rhythm player first’ which is, perhaps, a contributing factor to the rhythmic interest within his soloing. His use of altered tunings within his writing is also not the norm for a fire breathing metal player. Favouring more folk-based ideas such as open C gives his playing a whole new dimension and, rather than delivering any cliched fingerstyle or stock metal riff; Tremonti uses this as a base for some truly symphonic songs. ‘Ghost Of Days Gone By’ opens with a truly original example of this.

From a tonal perspective, Mesa/Boogie Dual and Triple Rectifiers have long supplied Tremonti with his high gain tones. He does diversify, however, utilising a Bogner Uberschall for any truly heavy, bass boosted playing and running his cleans through a ’65 Fender Twin Reverb Reissue. A mainstay on his board is also the ubiquitous TubeScreamer which drives the signal before hitting the amp’s front end.

It could be said that John Petrucci is the Godfather of modern and progressive metal, having taken the heavy elements of his metal roots and combining them with the symphonic and experimental influences of prog-rock pioneers such as Rush and Yes. Crafting complex pieces of music to feature odd time signatures and cinematic passages, which would serve equally as film scores as they would a metal album, has become a trademark of Petrucci style. Bringing a classical sophistication and new harmonic possibilities to the world of metal has inspired a new generation of technical and progressive metal bands and guitarists.

When looking at Petrucci’s playing, it is all too easy to focus on the immediacy of his technique (namely his superhuman synchronised alternate picking); but there are further depths which have earned him the place as one of metal’s true innovators. His sense of melody and musicality are jaw-dropping - he has advised that guitar players approach the instrument as they would a human voice; with an aim to create vocal-like lines which have space and memorable melodies. It is also worth noting that, not only does Petrucci pen many of Dream Theater’s lyrics, but he also writes a number of the actual vocal lines. These factors are, perhaps, why his playing has retained a human, emotional quality; something all too often relegated by those who seek to push the technical boundaries of the guitar. He also states that solos should be seen as ‘compositional opportunities’ and function as a song within the song itself and, as you have seen, one of many great metal players who stress the importance of building ideas around a central melody. It is hard to distil these elements into a single choice of track, but the solo from ‘The Spirit Carries On’ has the magical combination of soaring melody, emotion and technical excellence, all delivered with incredible control and restraint.

No doubt aided by the formal training gaining during his time at the illustrious Berklee College of Music, Petrucci has integrated denser, classical harmony within his writing not to mention the odd time signatures which now become the hallmark of modern metal. It is also worth looking at his popularisation and inventive use of the seven-string - utilising the full range of the guitar rather than, the all too often, low register chugging riffs. This also provides a good jumping-off point for his machine tight rhythm playing - according to Petrucci, he has credited this to the unparalleled benefits of playing and writing with a live drummer; often developing riffs and odd rhythmic grooves by locking into their feel.

As for gear - during the early days Ibanez was Petrucci’s go to, including a Universe for 7 string work and later his own signature, favouring Dimarzio pickups for their distinct tone. He moved over to Musicman after 1999 and has developed, with them, a number of signature models. His current guitar is the ‘Majesty’ which sees an evolution of the previous signature model. Much of the roots of the Petrucci tone can be traced to his, long-standing, use of Mesa/Boogie, in particular, the ‘Mark’ series (although a Rectifier was used for recordings on the album ‘Train of Thought’). His effects come from a combination of pedals and, his more recent, adoption of a Fractal Audio processor. He has a couple of signature pedals which also make a regular feature on his board - the TC Electronics ‘Dreamscape’ signature modulation and a Dunlop ‘Crybaby’ wah and accompanying rack module.

Very few players have been able to send a curveball into the wider guitar world in recent times, but, just as we thought we had a full understanding of the guitar and its direction Tosin Abasi arrives and does nothing short of reinventing both our perceptions of technique and compositional comments of metal guitar. Following his emergence in 2007 with instrumental band Animals As Leaders, he has transformed and inspired a whole new wave of metal musicians; finding a perfect balance between innovation and musical appeal.

As with many players of his generation, Abasi benefitted from the accessibility of REH video tuition and the wider resources which have helped shape many relatively young players. He cites Dream Theater and Alan Holdsworth as prime influences, however, there is something innately original about the way in which Abasi approaches the guitar and his music; crafting harmonically dense chordal ideas, lush clean passages and 8 string riffs which utilise melodic minor harmony. He is also another schooled musician, having gained a wider understanding of Jazz and harmony from The Atlanta Institute of Music.

On the subject of 8 string guitar playing, whilst Abasi may not be the first to take things a string further (he, himself, credits metal giants Messhugah as another inspiration and motivator), he has certainly popularised the use of extended range guitars, giving rise to a plethora of experimental metal guitar players. His use of the 8 string is entirely musical and, rather than focusing on simply translating low register riffs to heavy them up, he uses the full musical possibilities afforded to him by the extra two strings; producing lush extended chord voicings and arpeggios.

We should also take a moment to look at Abasi’s development of game-changing techniques such as his ‘Thump’ and ’Hybrid’ picking. The former uses an evolution of slap bass technique which delivers both down and upstrokes with the thumb on the bass strings whilst combining with the other fingers on his picking hand to produce varied and complex rhythmic groupings over single chords. As the name suggests, ‘Swybrid’ picking sees a combinational use of sweeping and hybrid picking. This allows Abasi to generate wider interval jumps during faster licks and passages, creating unconventional and dizzying lead lines. His melodic use of, two-handed clean tone tapping and percussive ‘hammers from nowhere’ also add to the overall confusion and wonder experienced when listening to (or better still; watching) Abasi play.

Taking a brief look at his choice of equipment - Abasi made the move, in 2017, from Ibanez to his own production company ‘Abasi Concepts’ which produce both 8 and 6 string models. He is a big exponent and evangelist of Fishman Fluence pickups which he rates due to their immediate attack and consistency achieved by their printed pole construction. His tones, until recently, were created exclusively using his Fractal Audio processor, however, he now uses this in conjunction with a Morgan SW50R 50W head. He has a wealth of pedals on his board, but regular appearances are made by the Friedman BE-OD drive pedal, of which he has two separately set to suit his rhythm and lead tones. He also has an Abasi produced drive pedal the ‘Pathos’ which is based on his signature driven tone.

So there we have it; 4 of the best? Perhaps. But, one indisputable fact is the need for us, as guitar players, to stop and listen from time to time. No matter which great guitar players you place in your top 4, they all claim to have achieved their goals by taking the time to listen to their heroes.