W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the early 1980s Los Angeles heavy metal scene. The band's popularity peaked that decade, yet they continue to record and tour. W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock-themed image, lyrics and live performances. They have sold over twelve million records worldwide, with their first two albums, W.A.S.P. (1984) and The Last Command (1985), being certified as gold by the RIAA.
Randall William Rhoads was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albums Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981). Rhoads was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
Steven Edward Duren, better known by his stage name Blackie Lawless, is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band W.A.S.P.
Bruce Howard Kulick is an American guitarist best known as a former guitarist of the band Kiss (1984–1996). He was also a member of Union with John Corabi from 1997–2002, Blackjack from 1979–1980 and Grand Funk Railroad from 2000–2023.
Superstrat is a name for an electric guitar design that resembles a Fender Stratocaster but with differences that clearly distinguish it from a standard Stratocaster, usually to cater to a different playing style. Differences typically include more pointed, aggressive-looking body and neck shapes with increased cutaways to facilitate access to the higher frets, an increased number of frets on the fingerboard, a contoured heel at the neck joint facilitating easier higher fret access, the usage of humbucking pickups, and locking vibrato systems, most commonly the Floyd Rose.
Isaac Delahaye is a Belgian guitarist and composer, best known as the lead guitarist of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica since 2009. Prior to that he was lead guitarist in the Dutch death metal band God Dethroned. Delahaye replaced former guitarist Jens van der Valk in God Dethroned after van der Valk left in 2004. He joined the band after a request from drummer and longtime friend Ariën van Weesenbeek and after several meetings with van Weesenbeek and Henri Sattler, Delahaye was welcomed into the band on 29 June 2004. On 15 January 2009, the official announcement came that Isaac was no longer a part of God Dethroned. Soon afterwards, an announcement came from the band Epica that proclaimed Delahaye as their recently hired guitarist.
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 guitarist in 2022.
Charvel is a brand of electric guitars founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and originally headquartered in Glendora, California. Since 2002, Charvel has been under the ownership of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
Shred guitar or shredding is a virtuoso style of playing the electric guitar, based on various advanced and complex playing techniques, particularly rapid passages and advanced performance effects. Shred guitar includes fast alternate picking, sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic scales, finger-tapping and whammy bar use. It is commonly used in heavy metal, where guitarists use the electric guitar with a guitar amplifier and a range of electronic effects such as distortion, which create a more sustained guitar tone and facilitate guitar feedback effects.
Mickael Gordon "Mick" Thomson is an American musician. He is one of two guitarists for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #7. Thomson originally met founding Slipknot members Anders Colsefni, Donnie Steele and Paul Gray through their mutual involvement in death metal band Body Pit, later joined in early 1996. Following the departure of fellow bandmates drummer Joey Jordison in 2013 and sampler Craig Jones in 2023, Thomson is now the second longest-serving member of Slipknot.
Silenoz is a Norwegian guitarist who is a founding member, along with Shagrath and Tjodalv, of the Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, of which he is the primary songwriter. He is also guitarist for the death metal supergroup Insidious Disease.
The Frankenstrat, also known as "Frankie", is a guitar created by Eddie Van Halen. Its name is a portmanteau of Frankenstein, the fictional doctor who created a monster by combining body parts of the recently deceased, and the Stratocaster, a model of electric guitar made by Fender.
The Jackson Rhoads is a model of electric guitar, originally commissioned by guitarist Randy Rhoads and produced by Jackson Guitars.
The star is a body shape of solid body electric guitar, particularly favoured for heavy metal music. It blends some features of the Gibson Flying V and Gibson Explorer, both of them much older designs.
The Destroyer is an Ibanez brand electric guitar model (originally) manufactured at the FujiGen musical instrument factory for the Hoshino Gakki Company. The Destroyer model was first introduced by Hoshino Gakki in 1975 and was based on the Gibson Explorer design. The Destroyer has since undergone several design and line changes and has been available in both 6-string and bass versions.
The Razorback V is an electric guitar designed by Dimebag Darrell shortly before his death in December 2004. It is a more aggressive looking version of the Dean V, and similar to the Dean Razorback. Corey Beaulieu of Trivium is known for using this guitar It is the more pointy version of the Dean Guitar headstock and the body is an enlarged reversed image of the head. There is also a bass guitar version of the Razorback V shape.
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex in 1972.
