Mike Lerner | |
---|---|
Also known as | Direwolf |
Born | May 17, 1981 |
Genres | Extreme metal, black metal |
Instrument(s) | Guitar |
Years active | 2001-present |
Labels | Black Market Activities |
Mike Lerner is an American metal guitarist best known for his work with Behold... The Arctopus.
Lerner began playing the piano when he was five years old. [1] He attended New York University where he received a degree and met fellow musician Colin Marston. The two began to play together and eventually formed the tech-metal group Behold... the Arctopus. They were later joined by drummer Charlie Zeleny.
Lerner is endorsed by Ibanez Guitars and is often seen performing on their RG model. His first Ibanez guitar was a bright yellow coloured RG565 that he found at a pawn shop in the mid-1990s. [1] He also uses a Peavey 5150 head and a Mesa Boogie 4x12 cabinet. [2]
Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. Over the years, Fear Factory has seen frequent changes in its lineup, with lead vocalist Burton C. Bell being the only consistent member for 31 years until his departure in 2020. Other than guitarist Dino Cazares, there are no original members left in its current lineup. The band went on hold in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but resumed activity a year later without founding member Cazares. Previous bassist Christian Olde Wolbers replaced him as the new guitarist, and bassist Byron Stroud joined the band. In April 2009, a new lineup was announced. Cazares returned as guitarist, and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud reprised their respective roles, and this lineup recorded the band's seventh studio album titled Mechanize (2010). Former members Wolbers and Raymond Herrera—both of whom were playing in Arkaea—disputed the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle from both parties had begun. Despite this, Fear Factory has since released three more albums: The Industrialist (2012), Genexus (2015) and Aggression Continuum (2021).
Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which he has released numerous solo albums, and featured in numerous collaborations and guest appearances on other musicians' albums.
Possessed is an American death metal band, originally formed in 1983. Noted for their fast style of playing and Jeff Becerra's growled vocals, they are often called the first band in the death metal genre, and paved the way for the 1980s Bay Area thrash metal scene, along with Metallica, Exodus, Testament and Death Angel. The band is also notable for featuring future Primus member Larry LaLonde, who was the lead guitarist for Possessed from 1984 to 1987.
The Black Dahlia Murder is an American melodic death metal band from Waterford, Michigan, formed in 2001. Their name is derived from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia. Since 2016, the band had consisted of lead vocalist Trevor Strnad, rhythm guitarist Brian Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and lead guitarist Brandon Ellis. The Black Dahlia Murder has undergone various lineup changes, with Strnad and Eschbach remaining the only constant members, until the former's death in 2022. Out of the eight studio albums they have released to date, the last seven have charted on the U.S. Billboard 200, with their fifth album Ritual peaking at No. 31 in 2011, marking them as one of the most popular contemporary American extreme metal bands. Their ninth and latest album Verminous was released on April 17, 2020.
Brutal Truth was an American grindcore band from New York City, formed by ex-Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death bass guitarist Dan Lilker in 1990. The group disbanded in 1999, but reformed in 2006 and continued to release music until 2014.
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. Before DragonForce he was in the black metal band Demoniac.
Fredrik 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.
Thorns is a Norwegian black metal band that formed in 1989 and was part of the early Norwegian black metal scene. They made two highly influential demos in the early 1990s, Grymyrk and Trøndertun, but have only released one full-length album.
Celestia was a French black metal band from Avignon, formed in 1995 by Noktu. Noktu was the only consistent member of the band. Celestia disbanded in 2015.
Dysrhythmia is an American instrumental progressive metal band formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1998. The band's music combines avant-garde elements of progressive rock and jazz with heavy metal. They are currently located in Brooklyn, New York.
Colin Marston is an American multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer residing in New York City. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music technology in 2004, and runs Menegroth The Thousand Caves Recording Studios in Woodhaven, Queens while not on tour with one of a number of bands. He is also known for his performances in acts such as Behold... The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Krallice, and the reunion lineup of Gorguts. Marston has produced, mastered, and mixed music for artists such as Imperial Triumphant, Genghis Tron, Kayo Dot, Jarboe, Capillary Action, Origin, Panopticon, Altar of Plagues, Liturgy, Pyrrhon, and Orthrelm, as well as for his own bands.
Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning is the second EP album by Behold... the Arctopus, released in 2005 on Epicene Sound Systems and limited to 800 copies. It was later released on 12" screen-printed white vinyl limited to 500 copies.
Behold… The Arctopus is an American avant-garde metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2001.
Skullgrid is the first full-length studio album by Behold... The Arctopus, released in 2007 on Black Market Activities. It contains seven studio recordings of previously unreleased original compositions.
Charlie Zeleny, also known as Charlie Z, is an American session drummer, music director and solo artist. He was also a member of the progressive metal bands Blotted Science and Behold the Arctopus, has played in a duo with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, and has performed drum duets with Terry Bozzio for The Drum Channel. His 2011 video project, Drumageddon Brooklyn, was a one-take, continuously shot 8-minute drum solo with Zeleny performing through an entire building in Brooklyn and ending on the building's rooftop. Zeleny is also known by his solo artist persona "DRMAGDN: Cyborg/Drummer DJ".
Elder is a four-piece rock band from Massachusetts, consisting of frontman Nick DiSalvo, bassist Jack Donovan, guitarist/keyboardist Michael Risberg and drummer Georg Edert. They have released five full-length albums since 2006 and multiple demos and EPs.
Horrorscension is the second studio album from Behold... The Arctopus, released in 2012 on Black Market Activities. This is the first album to feature drummer Weasel Walter after the departure of previous drummer Charlie Zeleny in 2009.
Hyperion is the second EP by the American black metal band Krallice. It was released on January 1, 2016. The music had originally been recorded in July 2013 for a split release that never materialised.
Cognitive Emancipation is the third studio album by Behold... The Arctopus, released in 2016. This is the first album to feature current drummer Jason Bauers after the departure of previous drummer Weasel Walter.