![]() |
Marcus Siepen | |
---|---|
![]() Siepen in 2016 | |
Background information | |
Born | Krefeld/Hüls, West Germany | 8 September 1968
Genres | Power metal, speed metal, heavy metal |
Occupations | Guitarist |
Years active | 1984–present |
Labels | No Remorse, Virgin, Century Media, Nuclear Blast |
Website | marcussiepen |
Marcus Siepen (born 8 September 1968) is a German guitarist, best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of power metal band Blind Guardian. For the biggest percentage of Blind Guardian's songs, particularly in more recent years, he has almost strictly played rhythm guitar, with most lead and solo work being performed by André Olbrich. He has also been part of the band Sinbreed and live member of Demons & Wizards.
Siepen is divorced and has a son from his first marriage. He has since remarried. Growing up in a Roman Catholic family, Siepen claims to not be religious, and that he doesn't believe in God. He views Jesus Christ as a human philosopher, "a very charismatic person with a great view of how people should live together." [1]
Since 1995, Siepen has been an endorser of Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, using various Triple Rectifier heads and multiple preamps.
As of 2010, his main rack consisted of a Triple Rectifier "Recto Reborn" head, with a Fractal Audio Axe-FX II providing effects. He uses two Sennheiser wireless units, one as a backup, and his old two-channel Rectifier as a backup. When doing overseas shows, he solely uses an Axe-FX II. Previous versions of his rack featured the two-channel Triple Rectifier as his main amplifier, a Rocktron Intelliflex instead of the Fractal for effects, and either a Mesa/Boogie TriAxis preamp or Rectifier Recording Preamp instead of his two-channel Triple Rectifier as a backup.
For guitars, Siepen has made most use of Gibson and ESP Guitars, with Gibson being his preferred brand nowadays. Up until the late '90s, Siepen mostly used ESP guitars with Blind Guardian co-guitarist André Olbrich, both guitarists making use of custom-made Horizon and Mirage guitars, although Siepen has been seen using other shapes, such as a custom-built model based on the Jackson Randy Rhoads. He can sometimes be seen with a custom ESP Eclipse, but he does not use this model often.
His current main guitars, since then, have been several Gibsons, mostly Les Paul models, his main two being a Les Paul Custom and a Les Paul Standard Premium Plus. Most of his guitars, including the previously two mentioned models, feature dual EMG 81 pickups, Suhr Doug Aldrich pickups, and TonePros hardware.
James Alan Hetfield is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally performs lead guitar duties and solos both live and in studio. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler. Metallica has won nine Grammy Awards and released 11 studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays, and 24 singles. Hetfield is often regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal rhythm guitar players of all time.
A guitar amplifier is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet. A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet that contains only the power amplifier circuits, requiring the use of a separate speaker cabinet–or it may be a combo amplifier, which contains both the amplifier and one or more speakers in a wooden cabinet. There is a wide range of sizes and power ratings for guitar amplifiers, from small, lightweight practice amplifiers with a single 6-inch speaker and a 10-watt amp to heavy combo amps with four 10-inch or four 12-inch speakers and a 100-watt amplifier, which are loud enough to use in a nightclub or bar performance.
John Ro Myung is an American bassist and a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.
Takahiro Matsumoto is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist and main composer of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan by certifications. He also has a successful solo career where, in addition to winning several Japan Gold Disc Awards, he won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album for Take Your Pick (2010), which he made in collaboration with Larry Carlton. Matsumoto is only the fifth guitarist in the world to have his own Gibson signature model guitar.
Richard Kruspe is a German musician. He is best known as one of the founders and the lead guitarist of the Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, as well as the frontman of the industrial metal band Emigrate. Kruspe has released eight studio albums with Rammstein and four albums with Emigrate.
Mesa/Boogie is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969.
André Olbrich is a German musician, best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of power metal band Blind Guardian, in which he serves as one of the main composers with other founder Hansi Kürsch.
Travis Stever is an American musician who is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria.
Dino Cazares is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares popularized the use of digital amp modelling processors, as well as the use of seven and eight-string guitars in metal music.
Kenneth Shaun Hickey is an American musician. He was the co-founder, guitarist, and backing and occasional co-lead vocalist of the gothic metal band Type O Negative, whom he played for from 1989 until the death of the band's frontman and bassist Peter Steele in 2010. He is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist for Silvertomb and was the co-founder of Seventh Void. All three bands featured fellow Type O Negative member Johnny Kelly on drums. Hickey is also an occasional touring guitarist for Danzig.
Robert Hecker, is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter with the bands Redd Kross and It's OK!
Marco Sfogli is an Italian heavy metal and rock guitarist. He has played guitar with James LaBrie, PFM and Icefish.
Mike Derks is an American guitarist, best known as the rhythm guitarist in the American heavy metal band Gwar since 1988. On stage he appears as a humanoid creature with a face resembling a bear-trap, usually portrayed wielding an enormous battleaxe.
Daniel Joseph Donegan is an American musician who is the guitarist, keyboardist and one of the founding members of heavy metal band Disturbed.
Silenoz is a Norwegian guitarist who is a founding member, along with Shagrath and Tjodalv, of the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, of which he is the primary songwriter. He is also guitarist for the death metal supergroup Insidious Disease.
Mårten Hans Hagström is a Swedish musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band after the release of their first album, which allowed Jens Kidman to focus on his vocal performances and give up rhythm guitar duties. He and fellow Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal are known for their complex rhythm guitar playing. Hagström has cited Rush, James Hetfield, Squarepusher, Autechre, Strapping Young Lad, and GISM as influences.
Björn Gelotte is a Swedish guitarist and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for melodic death metal band In Flames. He originally joined the band as the drummer in 1995, and continued in this position during The Jester Race (1996) and Whoracle (1997). He switched to his current position on guitar after Glenn Ljungström left the band and has played solely guitars since Colony (1999), sharing lead/rhythm guitar duties with former In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad.
Robert Joseph Barrett III is an American death metal musician, best known as the current rhythm guitarist for Cannibal Corpse. He played with the band from 1993 to 1997 and rejoined in 2005. He has cited Gary Moore, Malcolm Young, Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, Tony Iommi and Steve Vai, among others, as his influences. He currently resides in Tampa, Florida.
Tony Perry is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Pierce the Veil. He is also a co-owner of Living The Dream Foundation alongside bandmates Vic Fuentes and Jaime Preciado.
David Michael Murray is an English guitarist, best known as a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He joined Iron Maiden early in its history, and is the second-longest serving member of the band after founder Steve Harris. He and Harris are the only members of Iron Maiden to have appeared on every album.