Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or quasi-classical compositions of the latter.
The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schecter, Jerry Jones Guitars, Burns London and many other companies have produced electric baritone guitars since the 1960s, although always in small numbers due to low popularity. Tacoma, Santa Cruz, Taylor, Martin, Alvarez Guitars and others have made acoustic baritone guitars.
Herman Li is a Hong Kong-born British musician who is one of two lead guitarists for the power metal band DragonForce. Li has played with the band based in England since it was formed in 1999 by Li along with Sam Totman, both of whom are also the remaining original members of the band. Before DragonForce he was in the black metal band Demoniac.
Fredrik Carl Thordendal is a Swedish musician, best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member. Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, Thordendal was rated No. 35 by Guitar World in the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarists of all time.
Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metalcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr., Paul Waggoner, Dan Briggs, Dustie Waring (guitar) and Blake Richardson (drums).
Alex Skolnick is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of the thrash metal band Testament and has played with several other bands, including The Alex Skolnick Trio, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage and the heavy metal supergroup Metal Allegiance.
Christopher Alan Broderick is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the heavy metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four of the band's albums, The Age of Mastery, Thane to the Throne, Mechanized Warfare and Casting the Stones. Prior to joining Megadeth and while still in Jag Panzer, he served as a touring guitarist for Nevermore from 2001 to 2003, and again between 2006 and 2007. Following his departure from Megadeth, Broderick formed Act of Defiance in 2014. He joined Swedish metal band In Flames in 2019 as a touring guitarist, before becoming the band's permanent rhythm and lead guitarist in 2022.
Andy Timmons is an American guitarist who has played in the bands Taylor Bay Band, Danger Danger, Pawn Kings, and Andy Timmons Band (ATB). He has also released several solo albums and has worked as a session guitarist.
Between the Buried and Me is the debut studio album by American progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me. It was produced by Jamie King and was released on April 30, 2002 through Lifeforce Records.
The Silent Circus is the second studio album by American progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me. Released October 21, 2003, through Victory Records. It was their first album to be released through Victory Records after their departure from Lifeforce Records. It was re-released in 2006 with a bonus DVD included. The album includes 10 tracks with a hidden song titled "The Man Land" hidden at the end of "The Need for Repetition". It is notable for being the band's only album not to be produced by Jamie King. The album was remixed and remastered in 2020.
Robert Dustie Waring is an American guitarist. He is known for playing rhythm and additional lead parts for the progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me from 2005-2024. He is also a guitarist for the deathcore band Glass Casket. Waring joined Between the Buried and Me along with Glass Casket bandmate Blake Richardson, replacing Shane Blay as rhythm guitarist.
Christian Münzner is a German guitarist who plays for the bands Obscura and Alkaloid. He is also known for playing for the technical death metal band Necrophagist from 2002 until 2006, appearing on their 2004 release Epitaph. As well as Necrophagist, Münzner played in Defeated Sanity from 1999 to 2002 and Obscura from 2008 to 2014, after which he left to co-found the extreme progressive metal supergroup Alkaloid. He rejoined Obscura in 2020.
Daniel Hanford Briggs is a musician from Erie, Pennsylvania, best known for playing bass for the American progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me.
Colors is the fourth studio album by American progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me, released on September 18, 2007 through Victory Records. Although separated in 8 tracks, Colors gives the impression of one continuous song, with transitions between each part. The album was remixed and remastered in 2020. In August 2021, the band released a sequel to Colors, titled Colors II.
Prayer for Cleansing is an American metalcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band is noted for their extreme metal influence that was a little more prominent in their music than other metalcore bands at the time. They are also notable for being an early musical starting point for three members of Between the Buried and Me who played in the band.
The Parallax II: Future Sequence is the sixth studio album by American progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me, released on October 9, 2012. The album's concept is the continuation of the band's 2011 EP The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues. Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring (guitars) described it as being their favorite release up to now, being mature, dynamic, and with various metal influences from 1970's progressive rock, to jazz and fusion.
Polyphia is a primarily instrumental progressive rock band based in Plano, Texas, formed in 2010. The group consists of guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage, bassist Clay Gober, and drummer Clay Aeschliman.
Automata I is the eighth studio album by American progressive metalcore band Between the Buried and Me. It was released on March 9, 2018, through Sumerian Records, their first release with the label. It is the first part of a two-piece album; the second, Automata II, was released on July 13, 2018.
