Kirk Lee Hammett is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2003, Hammett, along with bandmate James Hetfield, was ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.
Pantera is an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981 by the Abbott brothers, and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-known lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers along with Brown and Anselmo, who joined in 1982 and 1986, respectively. The band is credited for developing and popularizing the subgenre of groove metal in the 1990s. Regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, Pantera has sold around 20 million records worldwide and has received four Grammy nominations.
Zachary Phillip Wylde is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy metal band Black Label Society.
Darrell Lance Abbott, best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest metal guitarists of all time.
Six Feet Under is an American death metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed in 1993.
Scott Ian is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist, lyricist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax, of which he is the sole continuous member. Ian is also the guitarist, lyricist, and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death, and is the rhythm guitarist for the metal bands the Damned Things and Mr. Bungle. He has hosted The Rock Show on VH1 and has appeared on VH1's I Love the... series, Heavy: The Story of Metal, and SuperGroup.
Washburn Guitars is an American brand and importer of guitars, mandolins, and other string instruments, originally established in 1883 in Chicago, Illinois. The Washburn name is controlled by U.S. Music Corp., a subsidiary of Canadian corporate group Exertis|JAM.
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.
Konstantinos Karamitroudis, better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne's band.
Jeff Loomis is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary. In 2014, he joined Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and in 2021 he joined Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz as well. He left Arch Enemy in 2023. As a solo artist he has released two albums and one EP.
Christopher Alan Broderick is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the thrash 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 guitarist in 2022.
Kirk Michael Windstein is an American musician. He is the frontman, vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and sole constant member of the sludge metal band Crowbar. He is also a founding member of the heavy metal supergroup Down, playing guitar with them from 1991 to 2013 and later rejoining the band in 2020. In 2005, Windstein formed Kingdom of Sorrow with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed. Their debut album was released in 2008. Windstein began his musical career in 1985 as a guitarist for a cover band called Victorian Blitz, and in 1988 joined a hardcore punk band called Shell Shock as a vocalist and guitarist.
Daniel Joseph Donegan is an American musician who is the guitarist, keyboardist and one of the founding members of heavy metal band Disturbed.
Antonio Campos is an American musician. He is the current bassist for the industrial metal bands Static-X and Fear Factory and the vocalist and bassist for the extreme metal band Asesino. He has previously played with Prong, Soulfly, Ministry, and Possessed. Following the death of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static and the resurrection of Static-X, Campos is the longest-serving member of the group and the only one to appear on every album.
Tom Rune Andersen, also known by his stage name Galder, is a Norwegian guitarist and vocalist. He is from the small town of Jessheim, north of Oslo. He is a founding member of the melodic black metal band Old Man's Child as well as the lead guitarist of Dimmu Borgir from 2000 to 2024. In 1993, under the stage name Grusom, he, Jardar, and Tjodalv created Old Man's Child. On Old Man's Child albums, he has performed vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboards, though with a full line-up, his primary instruments are guitar and keyboards, as well as vocals. He joined Dimmu Borgir in 2000 but has kept Old Man's Child active.
Patrik Jensen is a Swedish guitarist and co-founder of the bands, The Haunted (1996–present), and Witchery (1997–present), and also the former guitarist of the bands Orchriste (1987-1990), Seance (1990-1995) Satanic Slaughter (1994-1996) and Brujeria (1997).
Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka is a Polish musician, best known as the guitarist of the death metal band Decapitated. In addition to Decapitated, Wacław has been the guitarist of Lux Occulta since 1998, as well as a former member of the Kraków group Sceptic. He also worked with the death metal band Vader. He is a graduate of musical school in the first and second degree, and attended the Academy of Music in Kraków as an accordionist.
Randall Amplifiers is a manufacturer of solid-state and tube guitar amplifiers. Randall Amplifiers is currently a brand of U.S. Music Corp., a subsidiary of Canadian corporate group Exertis | JAM.
Misha Mansoor, also known as Bulb after the name of his solo project, is an American musician, best known as the founder of and one of the three guitarists in the progressive metal band Periphery. He is also a part of the projects Haunted Shores and Four Seconds Ago, and Of Man, Not of Machine.
Dead by Wednesday (DBW) is an American heavy metal band from New Haven, Connecticut, formed in 2006. The band's current lineup includes founding members Christian "Opus" Lawrence (drums) and Michael Modeste (bass), along with Dave Sharpe (guitar) and Steve Alvarez (vocals).
