Any teenage metal guitarist has already been exposed dozens of times to magazines exploring the theory behind Randy Rhoads' solo in "Crazy Train" and how awesome "Eruption" is ... you know, the same stuff these magazines have been featuring for years (in some cases, decades). Yes, Guitar World, I am well aware that Dimebag Darrell's death was a fucked up tragedy, but is there really anything left to learn from tabbing the same Pantera songs that have been tabbed everywhere in the last seven years? If a teenage guitarist is interested in anything besides someone from the '70s who has a new album out, a band from the '90s that just reunited, or a dead guy, he/she is kinda shit outta luck.
But there's room for new voices to be heard. A youth movement is happening in heavy metal guitar, and a damn good one too. There are some amazing guitarists rising up through the heavy metal circles that are evolving the genre and technique of heavy metal guitar. No, kids, you don't need to have gray hair or be six feet under to be a killer guitarist. Put the mainstream guitar magazines down and search out The Top Five Metal Guitarists Under The Age of 30 on YouTube and learn yaself some knowledge from someone you actually identify with and relate to:
5. Michael Keene (The Faceless)
The Faceless have spent the past few years progressing into one of the leading lights of the "tech-death" movement. While their early work was more forgettable, Michael Keene's guitar work on their most recent album Planetary Duality has helped propel the band beyond being one of thousands of cookie-cutter cookie-monster death metal bands, and has allowed them to be heavy enough for the gore crowd, while offering musical depth that has made them stand out on tour bills that are stacked with like-minded bands.
4. Luke Hoskin (Protest The Hero)
Canadian quintet Protest The Hero have won over metal, hardcore, and punk rock audiences equally, blending elements of all of those genres into a tasty concoction that is musically flashy while also remaining very accessible and just plain fun. On their newest album Scurrilous, Luke Hoskin's leads are a very nice compliment to the over-the-top (in a good way) gravitas of vocalist Rody Walker, lending riffs to the proceedings that can be best defined as "glorious."
3. Chris Letchford (Scale The Summit)
If you went to a prog-rock show ten years ago, there's a very strong chance there would not have been anyone under the age of 30 there. Thanks to bands like Scale The Summit though, progressive rock is becoming cool again with a younger crowd. Though it probably helps that the band are all in their mid-to-late 20s, Scale The Summit has an instrumental prog-metal sound that is updated for the current era, with equal emphasis on technicality, warmth, and compositions that sound like actual songs. Anchored by the guitar wizardry of Chris Letchford, Scale The Summit will give Los Angeles audiences a chance to watch them match the greatness of their 2011 album The Collective (and every time we've seen them live, they do) tomorrow night at the Key Club as part of the "Slaughter Survivors" tour with Conducting From The Grave, The Contortionist, and more.
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Where is Misha? Or Minette? Or Dave Davidson??? Dude not only is responsible for all guitar tracks but all vocals too. 12 strings does not make that tool the best in the world. The other guys (even the ones you did include) make 6 and 7 strings sound way better than his 12...
Where's Christian Muenzner?!
Fuck Dimebag. Not only is he fucking dead, he's well over 30.
How does metalcore chug chug skillless breakdowns count as "good"?
There are several lists of the best guitarists in certain music genres lately due to the end of the year 2011. Some agree with the list, others don't, but we are all entitled to our own opinion. These metal guitarists sure are talented and without a doubt can still outplay and outlast each other, but if one thing is certain, they play from their soul.
#1 can play fast sure, but his music sounds like diaper.
tosin = #1
ive never heard of the number 1 guy but after listenin to the video i can get where its coming from haha. i expected michael keene and tosin to be on here, but A. J. minette too. digital veil was a complete masterpiece, but thats really the only album i like by them, maybe hell get more recognition in the future.
Wow.....thanks for this article. As a 31 year-old (too old, i know) guitarist who starting playing guitar 19 years ago to learn metal songs but doesn't really listen to much metal these days, I'm very happy to have found out about these five bands, none of which I've ever heard before, but all of which had some very cool stuff about them, and a couple of which I'm definitely going to keep listening to. And as a half-black guy it gives me an overwhelming feeling of joy that the best guy on this list (though not according to the writer) is a black guy that dresses like he's in an R&B band. That's WAY more surprising than his guitar skills! Now we just need some ladies on the list. Thanks.
Tosin should've been #1. And Misha Mansoor should've been on here somewhere.
The Arctopus sounds like Craptopus.
:O
That is complete, 100% fabrication. Misha programmed the drums, Tosin was the arranger and original composer, all the way. Tosin deserves to be #1 on this list a thousand times over.
Great list! Finally some fucking recognition for Colin, a true original! Tosin is great but merely average in comparison to Colin. Also surprised Misha wasn't on this list.
Cant wait till you die 2 :)
Chris Arp - Psyopus.... Chris bradley - Beneath the Massacre ??
You fag..... It's music for musicians.
Luke Hoskin well done =)
Dimebag Darrell, R.I.P.
uh... Where is Misha Mansoor.. he's just as good as Tosin, if not better in certain aspects.
wheres AJ Harvey from Last Chance To Reason and Colin McDonnel from White Arms of Athena :)
tosin should be first. besides, a warrguitar is not a guitar, is played in a complete different way, it's more related to a chapman stick than to a guitar... completely unfair
The guy in the number one is really talented, but the music sucks, there's no flow to it.
This makes a lot of sense dude. Wow.
www.web-privacy.au.tc
Where the heck is Misha Mansoor? Colin Marston is just noise.
At least Chris writes his own music. Its obvious that he doesn't showcase his most technically chops in his music, since he actually writes songs. Tosin is great, but Misha wrote more on the AAL album than Tosin did, its like a typical pop band scenario, a producer produces a band.
Wheres VOGG FROM DECAPITATED ???
Thomas Erak. Lack of him.
Where's Dave Davidson from Revocation??????? Dude shreds!!!
As far as super technical, crazy rhythmic stuff goes, Colin is probably #1 but his soloing doesn't really knock me off my ass.
Tosin is insanely talented and probably has the best technique out of any of the young metal guitar virtuosos right now, but his sound doesn't have quite the variation I think he's capable of.
Dave incorporates so many different sounds and influences.. plus he sings while he does it. My top 3: Dave, Tosin, Colin. Then I'd probably include the guy from Necrophagist b/c he's also ridiculously talented - not sure if he's under 30 though. And then maybe the dude from Born of Osiris??
There is no better guitarist than another today... all metal guitarists just blow all and can do anything on a guitar. So I'll say that these are good but not a top 5 cause you can have maybe 30 others in a top 5
Jason:
A solid list to be sure (and let's face it, it could easily be expanded to 10).
That being said, there's a just-turned-17 year-old guitarist playing for a local tech/prog/death
band here in Denver (Dissonance in Design) that is a candidate to join this list in a few years.
Check-out their new single "Dionysiac"...the band has an upcoming show at the Summit in September, as well as their EP/CD release in late September at The Gothic...
Colin Marston is damn good but with the Warr he seems more like a bass player than a guitarist...
Behold the arctapuss? really? sounds like a reviewer trying to be "cool"
Yo what about Joshua Travis from The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza?
The faceless' early work is forgettable? Come on dude.
I HAVE AN OPINION AND STUFFS!
the human abstract!!
Where the fuck is A.J. Minette??
Micheal keene are you kidding me lucas mann from rings of saturn is better but im glad luke hoskin made the list he is my favorite guitar player but misha monsoor didnt make the list what the fuck man
Yeah luke hoskin is fucking crazy and misha the,electric light,bulb mansoor but what about jake bowen and his 7 strings of wonder lol periphery love that shit.
francesco might be over 30 thou whoops
you should look into jason richardson from born of osiris. and francesco artusato from all shall perish. just sayin
Scale the Summit fuck yeah lml
tosin should've definitely no.1 but you left out the guys from periphery definitely deserved a spot here
misha mansoor?
I certainly hope you've heard his other stuff, including Krallice. Also his bass work for Dysrhytmia is great and I can't wait for whatever he has ready for Gorguts. 'Listenability' shouldn't be much of an issue as many, many people find his work listenable. I personally don't enjoy to Bta but I certainly enjoy his other projects. If we're listening to metal, we shouldn't really ever be concerned about how accessible something is.
The sheer amount of work that Colin has done at his age is incredible. I was a bit surprised, honestly, to see him at number one simply for the fact that he and his work isn't that well known. Good choice, though.
if Muhammed Suicmez was still in his 20s, no one on this list would come close
why isnt tosin number 1? no one knows or cares who bta is. fucking fail.
lol, he was good, but people STILL keep fuckin praising him. he wasnt the best, mate.
You are a complete waste of resources. Curl up and die so we stop letting you crowd our space.
Signed,
people wth good taste
People saying to forget about dimebag have no right calling themselves metal.
how old is misha mansoor?
It's ironic that so many people are complaining about Marston's playing in Behold...the Arctopus,saying it is 'random' and 'crazy' and sounds like crap,when every other band on this list can barely write a song to save their lives. The Faceless and Protest the Hero especially are riff salad. Complaining that sumerian record's bands like Veil of Maya and Born of Osiris don't have players featured proves that the average young,'modern' guitarist only cares about sweep picking, arpeggios, pointless clean passages and down-tuning their cool new 7-strings to A# for some chugga-chugga whee!
Also, before chewing on Marston, go listen to Krallice. Probably the only band mentioned here that at least strives to be more than a jumble of riffs. Hopefully when these guys are no longer 'twenty something' guitarists they can relax and not have to rely on their chops and the fervor of internet fanboy-ism to get noticed. Maybe make some art.
And Paul Waggonner doesn't make the list, Luke should be higher up!
Tosin. Blog fail.
This list blows. The number one dude just plays crazy but it sounds like shit. I agree with the dude from Protest and The Faceless being on here but Colin Marston, he can't write... he just plays scales. There's no melody in it. It's just annoying sounding. It's not even music, it's just noise.
Jason Richardson from Born of Osiris?
No A.J. Minette...?
Waggoner is in his 30's
Matt, I've told you time and time again how much I love AJ, I couldn't be sadder that he isn't on this list. Paul Wagoner deserves a spot, too if I'm gonna be honest.
lee mckinney, misha mansoor, luke hoskin, aj minette and tosin abasi. That's my list lol
Why is Behold...The Arctopus number 1? I don't think they should be on this list at all.
Misha Mansoor (Periphery), AJ Minette (The Human Abstract), Marc Okubo (Veil Of Maya), Acle Kahney (Tesseract), Lee McKinney (Born Of Osiris).....these are all really amazing songwriters and guitar players. From your list I think Tosin Abasi deserves #1, just my opinion.
We saw Paul Waggoner of Between The Buried And Me mentioned in a few comments. Definitely an amazing guitarist, but on the north side of 30, so not eligible for this post.
Just wanted to say thanks for Number Of The Blog and City Of Devils, both killer metal sites that have been re-posting/re-tweeting our recent metal-related posts, and thanks also to everyone who has been commenting. We always love reading the feedback, whether you agree with us or think we're full of shit.
Nice list, man... Colin Marston is a bold choice, but I can't fault the dude's talent, even if I'm not really a fan of his music. I'd imagine limiting the list to five was not easy.
Absolutely not. Letchford is a fk'n genius. Toxin has some catching up to do.
he's over 30, stoops
Ive thought the same thing about the mainstream guitar media, thank you for actually saying something about it!
A.J. Minette is at least top 3 on this list.
The first guy I find is the worst. I know everyone else on the list but had never heard of this guy. And that song they have for him suuuuuucks
I was unaware that Behold... The Arctopus is still together and making music. I know Charlie left but I thought that halted everything.
more strings doesn't mean more talent, guys.
get off it hes dead
Francesco Artusato, anyone?
enough with dime bag guys hes fucking dead great player but its time to move on
I agree with Tim, Tosin at number one. I agree with all the other decisions, but the dude from Behold... writes crap. Sorry, but there should be a definitely distinction between between talent, and talent with creativity and listenablity. With that in mind I would say Tosin, Letchfold, Keen, AJ Minette at 4, and Hoskin at 5.
tosin definatly should have been number one! what about paul from btbam? or The guys from i am abomination? honestly colin is good but any one can play noise core honestly i think his music is annoying.i think omar Rodriguez Lopez from at the drive in and mars volta has more style or the guitarist from shai hulud?
How is Tosin not on the top? Props to Chris by the way, he might not be on the level as Abasi or Waggoner, but he's worked for it.
In what way is this guy better than Tosin?
Where the fuck is A.J. Minette.
Ahhh, Andy 'Sacred Mother Tongue/ Licklibrary' James just missed out on this one being only just the wrong side of 30, but is easily one of the UKs most talented guitarists.
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