# Who Are Your Favorite Rhythm Guitarists



## works0fheart (Feb 2, 2020)

I love shredding as much as the next guy, but the rhythm players behind them don't always get enough love. Who are your favorites?

Cue the ton of "James Hetfield" responses lol.


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## Leviathus (Feb 2, 2020)

Good question. For me it's EVH, underrated rhythm guitarist, everyone knows his shred but no one can hit a chord like Ed.


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## USMarine75 (Feb 2, 2020)

Leviathus said:


> Good question. For me it's EVH, underrated rhythm guitarist, everyone knows his shred but no one can hit a chord like Ed.



Came in to say this. Most underrated aspect of his game.


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## Floppystrings (Feb 2, 2020)

Vogg from Decapitated.


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## USMarine75 (Feb 2, 2020)

Also Eric Peterson...


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## oppgulp (Feb 2, 2020)

Malcolm Young.


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## c7spheres (Feb 2, 2020)

Toni Iommi, Jimmy Page.


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## USMarine75 (Feb 2, 2020)

oppgulp said:


> Malcolm Young.



+1

Highway to Hell is the hardest easy song of all time.


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## works0fheart (Feb 2, 2020)

Floppystrings said:


> Vogg from Decapitated.



Winds of Creation might have some of the tightest riffs on an album out there. To this day I can throw that album on and listen the main break in The First Damned and still get all giddy because of how precise it sounds. Few albums keep that first listen excitement like that one does for me.


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## gnoll (Feb 2, 2020)

Hetfield!! Yeah it's the obvious answer, but come on!!!

Also Jon Schaffer.



And Jari Mäenpää.


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## gunch (Feb 2, 2020)

Vogg
Joe Haley 
Sylvain Marcoux (early gorguts) 
Doug Cerrito
Shaun Kelly 
Scott Hull 
Rob Marton


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## budda (Feb 2, 2020)

Realizing I don't listen to a lot of lead-guitar-oriented music at the moment, I can confidently say Brian Eschbach and will add to that later .


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## DudeManBrother (Feb 2, 2020)

Definitely Brian Eschbach. TBDM has gone through a ton of lead guitarists, but he’s the core of that sound. AJ Minette, Matthieu Pascal, and Dusty Waring split duties of rhythm and lead, but are all incredible players that have inspired me, predominately from their riffing.


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## Kobalt (Feb 2, 2020)

Off the top of my head, in no particular order other than Mustaine being #1 for me, he's the reason I started taking guitar seriously.

Dave Mustaine
Rob Arnold & Matt DeVries
Drop (Sybreed, Obsydians)
Dimebag Darrell
Mark Morton & Willie Adler
Jari Maenpaa


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## gunch (Feb 2, 2020)

Also Dusty but more in glass casket and BTBaM before Alaska

And Joejira


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## GRUNTKOR (Feb 2, 2020)

Dimebag Darrell for metal, Jimi Hendrix for classic rock


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## InHiding (Feb 2, 2020)

Mustaine and Browne are pretty good.


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## Supernaut (Feb 2, 2020)

Joe & Christian from Gojira


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## Bloody_Inferno (Feb 2, 2020)

Since 3 of my faves: Hetfield, EVH, and Eric Peterson have been mentioned, some off the top of my head...

Nuno Bettencourt (like EVH Nuno just has total domination on guitar)
Nile Rodgers
Adam Jones
Alex Lifeson (master of rich and textural chord voicings)
Sugizo/Inoran
Dave Mustaine
Scott Ian
Ty Tabor
Andy Summers


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## The Mirror (Feb 2, 2020)

Josh Middleton is a total beast if it comes to metal rhythm, especially Thrash of course.

In fact I'd say he totally mops the floor with Hetfield when it comes to more technical rhythm stuff.


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## BenjaminW (Feb 2, 2020)

John Lennon, James Hetfield, and Izzy Stradlin for me


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 2, 2020)

Mark Tremonti post-Creed
Marcus Siepen
Dino Cazares
Jon Schaffer
Hevy Devy (since he claims to hate playing shreddy leads :lol) and Jed Simon
Joe Duplantier
Rudy Schenker
Eric Peterson


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## Mboogie7 (Feb 2, 2020)

Ohhh this is a great post!! 

soloing/shredding is wonderful and all, but to me, rhythm guitar has always had this... let’s call it aggression/adrenaline pumping/whatever else you want to call it.

Hetfield is of course king (for me at least) but others I’ve really come to appreciate are the boys from KSE, Meshuggah, Angel Vivaldi’s rhythmic playing is pretty tasty... I know I’m forgetting so many others, but I also just woke up haha.


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## akinari (Feb 2, 2020)

I don't listen to a lot of shreddy stuff apart from Satch, Garsed and Paul Gilbert so there are a lot.

Rob from Neuraxis
Rob from Discordance Axis
Matsubara from Gridlink / Mortalized
Dave from Revocation
Steve and Jim from Human Remains
Deron from CKY
Todd from Starkweather
Trey from Morbid Angel
Tom from Architects
Demian from Playing Enemy
Kirk from Crowbar
Scott from Black Sheep Wall / Passenger
Markus from Eucharist (Sweden)
Shaune from Dim Mak / Ripping Corpse
Erik from Hate Eternal / Ripping Corpse
Chuck from Death
Piggy from Voivod
Meshuggah dudes
Ryan from Unearthly Trance
Justin from Godflesh


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## Werecow (Feb 2, 2020)

Hetfield, Dino Cazares, Bill Steer, Kirk Windstein, the Bolt Thrower guys, Scott Ian, the Slugdge guys, Tony Iommi, Gregor Mackintosh, Stephen Carpenter.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 2, 2020)

Oh god, there's so many guys that write sick riffs.


Jeff Loomis
Joe/Christian from Gojira
Trey from Morbid Angel
Rob/Phil- Machine Head
Dino Cazares
Devin Townsend
Luc Lemay- Gorguts
Marc Okubo- Veil of Maya
Vogg- Decapitated
AJ Minette- Human Abstract
Dustie/Paul- BTBAM
Greg from Allegaeon
Tobi/Dean from Archspire
Dave from Revocation
Bill/Brent from Mastodon
Kirk Windstein- Crowbar/Down
Dimebag
Jake/Warren from Ratt
Adrian/Dave from Iron Maiden
John Sykes- Whitesnake era
Matt Pike- High on Fire
Paul Ryan from Origin
Ron Jarzombek
Chuck Schuldiner
Rob from Neuraxis
Mille Petrozza- Kreator
Erik Rutan
Christian Munzner


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## Bdtunn (Feb 2, 2020)

Mustaine 
Dime 
Eric Peterson 
Andreas kisser 
Holt


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## Rosal76 (Feb 2, 2020)

gunch said:


> Shaun Kelly





akinari said:


> Shaune from Dim Mak / Ripping Corpse



Huge 1!!! It's nice to see Shaune Kelly get some recognition. Really wish they would release a new Dim Mak album.


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## KailM (Feb 2, 2020)

Don’t really have a favorite that hasn’t been mentioned, and I tend to be more of a rhythm guy.

I saw Decapitated once and I can confirm that Vogg is God-tier.


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## Kwert (Feb 2, 2020)

akinari said:


> I don't listen to a lot of shreddy stuff apart from Satch, Garsed and Paul Gilbert so there are a lot.
> 
> Rob from Neuraxis
> Rob from Discordance Axis
> ...




I think people often forget how fucking incredible of a player Rutan is. He has such a precise, brutal picking hand and his leads are pretty great too. 

A lot of my favs have been mentioned already but I’ll throw in Blasphemer (formerly of Mayhem) and Obsidian C from Keep of Kalessin.


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## fps (Feb 2, 2020)

Many of mine, especially at the heavier end, have and will continue to be mentioned.
I'll throw in Jerry Cantrell (hooks, tone) and Johnny Greenwood; the latter has done some incredible things in tandem with Ed O'Brien (tones and arrangements). And Wata from Boris (versatility and massiveness). Mikael Akerfeldt, back in the day (intricacy, complexity). Adam Jones (tightness, and yet, vibe). Brian May (arrangements, he could do anything).


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## gunch (Feb 2, 2020)

Continued:
Lille Gruber, his dad and Christian Kuhn - Defeated Sanity
Marlon Friday - Abhorrent
Pier-Luc Lampron - Martyr
Erik Lindmark (RIP) - Deeds of Flesh
Paul Masvidal on Human and Cynic's 91 demo


Matt Heafy and Chewy rip on this album


Re: Erik Rutan and Shaune Kelly this album would have been a top tier classic


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## Boofchuck (Feb 2, 2020)

Adam Jones, The Gojira fellas, The Meshuggah boys, Jeff Loomis, Keith Merrow, and Ola Englund are hands down my favorite rhythm players. Honestly, they're my favorite guitarists period.


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## spudmunkey (Feb 2, 2020)

Izzy Straddlin, GNR.


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## B.M.F. (Feb 2, 2020)

Awesome thread! I came to chime in w/ Diego Sanchez of Disgorge USA, Mike Bailey of Brodequin, also The Berzerker had some of the most insane all-downpicking riffs at high BPM, courtesy of Sam Bean


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## Vyn (Feb 2, 2020)

KnightBrolaire said:


> Oh god, there's so many guys that write sick riffs.
> 
> 
> Jeff Loomis
> ...



Can someone explain to me why it took over 20 post for Loomis to be mentioned? His lead work is insane however so is his riffing.


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## aesthyrian (Feb 2, 2020)

John Browne of Monuments. Dude is a god damn riff machine.


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## couverdure (Feb 2, 2020)

if I'm gonna be honest, it's gotta be Tom DeLonge. He, Billie Joe Armstrong, and many guitarists in their genre influenced my playing style and love for power chords.


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## Pat (Feb 3, 2020)

Mikael Akerfeldt deserves a mention for all the awesome acoustic rhythm playing he does.
Brian May
Andy LaRocque 
Dimebag
Justin and Dan Hawkins
Jon Nödtveidt
Ihsahn 
Wes Hauch
Muhammed Suicmez 

the list is endless!


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## chinnybob (Feb 3, 2020)

I know it's been said but seriously, Nuno Bettencourt.

Also feel like the guys from Slipknot need a shout out here.


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## RBadel (Feb 3, 2020)

There are a lot of great rhythm guitarist. Since i am more at home on the metal-site of things i would go for.
Jon Schaffer (Iced Earth) if you are into some galloping and superfast rhythm playing
and
Meshuggah (both of the guitarist) just because reasons! they are the most on-point band ive ever experienced.


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## manu80 (Feb 3, 2020)

Hetfield/Mustaine/Ian/Petersen


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## Louis Cypher (Feb 3, 2020)

I def 2nd EVH/Nuno/John Sykes/Trey (Morbid Angel)/Dime/Hendrix/Jerry Cantrell/Andy La Rocque

I would add off the top of my head....
J (White Zombie)
Richie Kotzen(Like EVH and Nuno he is the total guitar package)
Perry/Whitford
Vernon Reid (Living Colour)
John Frusciante
Head & Munky
Vito Bratta (White Lion)
Downing & Tipton
Mille Petrozza (Kreator)


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## DLG (Feb 3, 2020)

all-time, probably Hetfield, Mustaine and Jeff Loomis, particularly Loomis's pre-7-string Nevermore riffs.


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## possumkiller (Feb 3, 2020)

Paul Landers


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## ThePIGI King (Feb 3, 2020)

All my other tops were mentioned but I didn't see Suiçmez or Phil Tougas


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## R34CH (Feb 3, 2020)

The obvious choice for me (as others have said) is Jon Schaffer. In high school while all my friends were hanging out on AIM (yeah - back in those days), I was practicing Stormrider and Gettysburg.

Hetfield is another big one for me - I spent a lot of time getting the downpick aggression right on MoP. Coincidentally, this weekend I heard Master of Puppets playing in a store so I went home and tried to throw it down. Eff, all of my downpick speed and dexterity is gone! 

I miss those high school days when I had time to play the same riff for 2 hours straight...


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## efiltsohg (Feb 3, 2020)

Gary Holt, Jon Schaffer, Matt Pike, Bill Steer


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## efiltsohg (Feb 3, 2020)

Scott Kelly


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## Bdtunn (Feb 3, 2020)

efiltsohg said:


> Gary Holt, Jon Schaffer, Matt Pike, Bill Steer



good call on pike!


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## zappatton2 (Feb 3, 2020)

I always thought it was kind of a shame that GnR was always known as an Axl/Slash thing, when Izzy was the primary songwriter, and his rhythm playing was profoundly amazing. More of a blues vibe than a mathematical precision machine.


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## Ordacleaphobia (Feb 3, 2020)

*Justin Lowe.* Dude singlehandedly saved my interest in playing guitar and got me through an awful plateau. His writing was so interesting and unique and I was absolutely crushed when he passed.
Michael Leo Valeri, Olly Steele, and Dustie Warring are also idol status.


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## Viginez (Feb 3, 2020)

gunch said:


> Doug Cerrito


monster

terrance hobbs too


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## SamSam (Feb 3, 2020)

No particular order:

Jeff Loomis 
James Hetfield
Michael Romeo
Chuck Shuldner
Paul Masvidal
Mark Holcomb
Jari Mäenpää
Adam Dutkiewicz
Vogg
Florestan Durand 

Probably more


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## Flemmigan (Feb 3, 2020)

Dustie Waring, for reasons others already mentioned. Riff beast, precise in all ways, and goes from chords to riffage seamlessly. Of course his lead work is incredible too, but that's not what this is about.
Also have to throw some attention to Claudio Sanchez. He's very precise, especially considering he's always singing over top. I still can't wrap my head around how he plays the verse in Everything Evil while singing.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 3, 2020)

Flemmigan said:


> Dustie Waring, for reasons others already mentioned. Riff beast, precise in all ways, and goes from chords to riffage seamlessly. Of course his lead work is incredible too, but that's not what this is about.
> Also have to throw some attention to Claudio Sanchez. He's very precise, especially considering he's always singing over top. I still can't wrap my head around how he plays the verse in Everything Evil while singing.


I still can't play and sing Welcome Home at the same time even after years of trying (halfheartedly but hey I was still trying)


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## sirbuh (Feb 3, 2020)

Trey Azagtoth 
EVH
F**king Champs (whatever mess of guitarists that was) 
Dime


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## BigViolin (Feb 3, 2020)

DeGarmo/Wilton

Browne


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## gunch (Feb 3, 2020)

Greg Kubacki, especially being able to be in time to whatever the absolute hell Elliot Hoffman is doing in the minute


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## pyrrhus (Feb 3, 2020)

James Hetfield, Wes Hauch, Vogg as many have said.
Also Jake Wilkes from Disentomb, Anton Svedin from Soreption and Joe Haley from Psycroptic all have some crazy riffs.


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## Pietjepieter (Feb 4, 2020)

At the moment:
Greg Kubacki from Car bomb
John Browne / Olly Steele from monuments
Jeff Loomis (his shredding is nice, but hut rithmic playing is also out there  )
Dustie Waring from BTBAM
Justin Lowe 
Dan Weller from Sikth
Bill Kelliher from Mastodon
Joe Duplantier from Gojira

So many moster players, all the crazy riffs...
It's a good time to be alive


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## USMarine75 (Feb 4, 2020)

Just discovered this Vogg guy from this thread... never listened to him before. Figured I'd check out since so many recommended him.



 Any more recommendations?


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## Walter W. (Feb 4, 2020)

Josh Middleton, very underated IMO


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## possumkiller (Feb 4, 2020)

R34CH said:


> The obvious choice for me (as others have said) is Jon Schaffer. In high school while all my friends were hanging out on AIM (yeah - back in those days), I was practicing Stormrider and Gettysburg.
> 
> Hetfield is another big one for me - I spent a lot of time getting the downpick aggression right on MoP. Coincidentally, this weekend I heard Master of Puppets playing in a store so I went home and tried to throw it down. Eff, all of my downpick speed and dexterity is gone!
> 
> I miss those high school days when I had time to play the same riff for 2 hours straight...


I feel you. I guess that's why I just sit around noodling around on a strat whenever I can steal a few minutes. All the awesome chops I had 10-12 years ago that I worked so hard building up the previous ten years are just about gone. When I try to get my rhythm going these days I look like a fat guy trying to do sprints. That's why I still have a little respect for guys like Hetfield that are like 75 and still pounding out MoP faster than the recording with all down strokes.


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## Floppystrings (Feb 4, 2020)

USMarine75 said:


> Just discovered this Vogg guy from this thread... never listened to him before. Figured I'd check out since so many recommended him.
> 
> 
> 
> Any more recommendations?




That's not a bad example of Vogg's playing, but when he was playing with Vitek in the early days he was pushing the limits with playing as tight as possible and it was something to behold.


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## SamSam (Feb 4, 2020)

Ah shit,

Anton from Soreption! 

Monster rhythm player!


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 4, 2020)

chinnybob said:


> I know it's been said but seriously, Nuno Bettencourt.
> 
> Also feel like the guys from Slipknot need a shout out here.


Jim and Mick are super underrated guitar players. They fuckin rip and stay super tight live.

Also I'll throw Nergal/Orion from Behemoth into my list as well. They had a ton of awesome riffs pre-Satanist.


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## gunch (Feb 4, 2020)

USMarine75 said:


> Just discovered this Vogg guy from this thread... never listened to him before. Figured I'd check out since so many recommended him.
> 
> 
> 
> Any more recommendations?




Idk about everyone else but when I say Vogg I mean Vogg from Organic Hallucinosis and before


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## gunch (Feb 4, 2020)




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## Esp Griffyn (Feb 4, 2020)

EVH. Just listen to the beginning of the track "5150" and tell me that isn't great playing.

Steve Vai and Satch are both awesome rhythm players. Shawn Lane is another guy who is known mostly for his insane technique, unusual phrasing an incredible improv skills, but his rhythm playing was top notch too. He was just a superb at everything he tried.


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## USMarine75 (Feb 5, 2020)

gunch said:


> Idk about everyone else but when I say Vogg I mean Vogg from Organic Hallucinosis and before



Hmm maybe google lied to me then... well this guy is good too lol.


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## Hollowway (Feb 5, 2020)

Cool idea for a thread! 

I gotta go old school for this:
Warren Dimartini
John Frusciante
Dave Navarro 

(and also EVH, as has been mentioned)


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## USMarine75 (Feb 5, 2020)

Don't know how we got this far without it being said... Hendrix. He inspired so many guitarists with his rhythmic styling.




Also this ridiculousness...


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## works0fheart (Feb 5, 2020)

Not sure if he's been mentioned yet, but Danny Tunker (ex-Aborted, ex-Spawn of Possession, Abhorrent) is as good as he is overlooked. Man's a monstrous player, both lead and rhythm.
Here's him playing a Spawn of Possession song live, blindfolded.



Also, for the people curious about Decapitated, this is by far their best album, at least to me. I sort of lost interest when their sound changed. I don't think the new stuff is awful, but this album slays. Sorry for the vimeo link, for some reason this album has been nearly pulled off of the internet completely (youtube, spotify). Anyways, I highly recommend giving Nine Steps, Human's Dust, and The First Damned a listen. Awesome solos on there too. I think the drummer on this album, Vitek, was still like 14 or something like that as well. If you're not that patient then just skip to 12:05.


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## M3CHK1LLA (Feb 5, 2020)

manu80 said:


> Hetfield/Mustaine/Ian/Petersen



most of mine have been mentioned with the exception of mick mars...

after all these years, 'too fast for love' & 'shout at the devil' are still among my favorite albums.


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## bmth4111 (Feb 5, 2020)

BUSTER ODEHOLM (HLB)!!!!!!!!!!

Such unique and powerful riffs. Always there when I need to break my neck real quick.


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## gunch (Feb 5, 2020)

https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Jason_"Tux"_Morgan/6570

Millennium is AIR TIGHT 
Lee ate guitarists for breakfast though


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## akinari (Feb 5, 2020)

gunch said:


> https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Jason_"Tux"_Morgan/6570
> 
> Millennium is AIR TIGHT
> Lee ate guitarists for breakfast though



Okay we best friends now.


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## Choop (Feb 8, 2020)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Mark Tremonti post-Creed



Even Tremonti's riffs in Creed were pretty great!

Going to reiterate Hevy Devy also since he's my favorite haha.

Outside of metal, I really like the way Quinn Allman from The Used and Jade Puget from AFI handle(d) their guitar work, being the only guitarists in their respective bands.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 8, 2020)

Choop said:


> Even Tremonti's riffs in Creed were pretty great!



They're pretty good, but his riffing in Alter Bridge and solo is another fucking level. I can't see 1997 - 2002 doing stuff like that except for a song like Bullets.


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## Choop (Feb 8, 2020)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> They're pretty good, but his riffing in Alter Bridge and solo is another fucking level. I can't see 1997 - 2002 doing stuff like that except for a song like Bullets.



Lol yeah, Bullets feels like such an outlier song on that album. It's super heavy and intense compared to the rest.


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## onefingersweep (Feb 9, 2020)

Don't know the names of everyone I like or exactly who wrote specific riffs etc, so I will just write out the band names in some cases.

AC/DC
Archspire
Born Of Osiris
Devin Townsend
Dimebag
Dino Cazares
Gojira
Ironmaiden
Isis
James Hetfield
John Petrucci
Jeff Loomis
John Browne
Fredrik Thordendal & Mårten Hagström 
Keith Merrow
Megadeth
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Michael Romeo
Misha Mansoor
Muhammed Suzimez
Paul Gilbert
Rammstein
Sybreed
Tony Iommi
Tosin Abasi
Testament
Tesseract
Textures
Ritchie Blackmore
Vinnie Moore
Yngiwe Malmsteen
Zakk Wylde
ZZ Top


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## Sdrizis89 (Feb 9, 2020)

Josh Middleton
Willie Adler and Mark Morton
James Hetfield
Chuck Schuldiner
Dave Davidson
Wes Hauch
Keith Merrow
Dimebag
Tony Iommi

All have been mentioned I believe already but they all are monster players.


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## works0fheart (Feb 10, 2020)

Since I haven't seen these names mentioned yet





James Murphy



And this forum's own local hero, Oleg the beast himself.


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## c7spheres (Feb 10, 2020)

Joe Walsh and Robert Johnson always did odd and interseting stuff. Everytime I hear them it catches my ear and I'm thinking that's weird/interesting.


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## manu80 (Feb 10, 2020)

I'll add Mike Clark from ST too if you don't mind.


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## Louis Cypher (Feb 10, 2020)

Some of the best rhythm players are funky
Jimmy Nolen (James Brown) 
Eddie Hazel & Phelps "Catfish" Collins (Parliment-Funkadelic) 
Steve Cropper 
Prince
Nile Rodgers
Sly Stone


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## efiltsohg (Feb 10, 2020)

If we're getting into non-metal, I gotta mention John Martyn


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## ExileMetal (Feb 10, 2020)

No one mentioned Drewsif? You are all mad


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## ExplorerMike (Feb 10, 2020)

Well as many have mentioned before Hetfield is number one in my book too. But I’m surprised I haven’t seen Matt Heafy of Trivium mentioned yet. He can do it all and writes some killer riffs. 
Hetfield is the one that got me into playing guitar in the first place, but Heafy is the one that kept me interested when I started to burn out. And he is also the reason I started down the 7 string rabbit hole too!


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## efiltsohg (Feb 10, 2020)

has Tom G Warrior been mentioned yet?


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## gunch (Feb 10, 2020)

Migueloud

Also dude I want a Peav XXX now


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## Decipher (Feb 12, 2020)

Dimebag
Andreas Kisser
Dino
Scott Ian
Fredrik & Marten
Jeff Loomis
Vogg
Mick Thomson


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## thedonal (Feb 13, 2020)

I won't have much new to add to these. 

Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen- fantastic rhythm players that are also great at mixing rhythm with lead fills (comes from being the sole guitarist in the band I guess). I love EVH much more for his riffing and groove than for the lead (though his sense of groove is what makes the lead so exciting too).

Keith Richards- so many great riffs. An underrated guitarist I reckon.

Heftield for sure- amazing and one member of Metallica that got better over time where the other long standing members got worse. 

Jim Martin- his riffing on The Real Thing is out of this world- super tight and loads of groove.

Josh Middleton- amazing thrash picking- so precise and ferocious. And the lead fills in there too!

All I can think of for now.


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## BigViolin (Feb 13, 2020)

On the fusion side, Wayne Krantz is a rhythmic beast. Said he learned what absolute dead center of the beat means while recording with Steely Dan. Doesn't hurt that after hundreds of gigs with his trio, he has an almost telepathic relationship with his drummer. Being able to improvise rhythmically and I mean pure in the moment improv, with a bassist and drummer in real time must feel pretty cool. He claims that when he shifts gears his drummer will lock back in within a 1/4 note. Crazy shit.


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## Ordacleaphobia (Feb 13, 2020)

BigViolin said:


> On the fusion side, Wayne Krantz is a rhythmic beast. Said he learned what absolute dead center of the beat means while recording with Steely Dan. Doesn't hurt that after hundreds of gigs with his trio, he has an almost telepathic relationship with his drummer. Being able to improvise rhythmically and I mean pure in the moment improv, with a bassist and drummer in real time must feel pretty cool. He claims that when he shifts gears his drummer will lock back in within a 1/4 note. Crazy shit.



As a drummer this post makes me incredibly insecure


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## BigViolin (Feb 13, 2020)

Ordacleaphobia said:


> As a drummer this post makes me incredibly insecure



Then you might want to stay away from Keith Carlock. 

...he scares me too.


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## ockis23 (Feb 13, 2020)

I'm going to give my number 1 vote to the guy who really inspired me to learn guitar and that is Mike Mushok, the first time I heard Home by Staind was life changing. The following players continue to inspire me:

Stef Carpenter-Deftones
Tom Searle (RIP)-Architects
Brian Eschbach-TBDM
Patrick Sheridan-Fit for an Autopsy

There are so many more to names but those are my bread and butter players.


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## GLACIERS (Feb 13, 2020)

Josh Travis from Danza. total mastery


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## AboutBlank (Feb 14, 2020)

All time favorite:

Kris Coombs / Funeral for a Friend


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## GWD (Feb 14, 2020)

Keith Merrow
Tom S. Englund
As I Lay Dying 
Michael Amott
In Flames
Fred Brum
Darkest Hour


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## SamSam (Feb 14, 2020)

AboutBlank said:


> All time favorite:
> 
> Kris Coombs / Funeral for a Friend



Kris is a really cool guy, met him a few times at GG and it's always great to chat.


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## 5150serg (Feb 14, 2020)

Keeping in mind how metal rhythm has changed over time, their body of work including influence on everyone who followed plus the fact that they are still doing it today for ridiculously long concerts and at their freakin age...I still believe the first two deserve their place and have their merits...most of what we know and hear today is birthed from their work whether or not they're still great today.

James Hetfield/Dave Mustaine
Kerry/Jeff
Eric Peterson
Dimebag
Chuck Schuldiner
Jeff Loomis
John Petrucci
Dino (Fear Factory)
Dave (Revocation)
Meshuggah dudes
Joe (Gojira)
Cannibal Corpse (anyone who's been in CC)
Tom (Evergrey)
Jesper (Old In Flames)


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## ghostOG (Feb 14, 2020)

I am my favorite rhythm guitar player.  

Don't have any other favorites really, but there are a lot of good ones out there!


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## Kwert (Feb 14, 2020)

Another vote for Krantz! His time is amazing...

Also, another on the metal side - Jeff Waters.


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## HoneyNut (Feb 14, 2020)

Chris Amott (along w/ Michael Amott)
Vogg
Andreas Kisser (very underrated)
Kiko Louriero


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## JustinRhoads1980 (Feb 15, 2020)

A lot of these guitarists I totally agree with. Tons of these guys are fuckin amazing like Rutan, Hauch, Merrow, Jimi, Chuck, and many more.


But how the fuck did no one mention Pat O Brien and Rob Barrett of Cannibal Corpse?








Just some killer shit when pat joined. Rob is also a tight ass player. Anything from Unleashing the bloodthirsty to now is just pure fucking awesomeness.

(Also off topic, but Alex Webster is *criminally *underrated bassist. Like fuck the man is insane.)


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## works0fheart (Feb 15, 2020)

Honestly, being from Florida I've seen CC more times than I could count. Probably upwards of 15 times. Pat O' Brien is insanely good. Rob Barrett is insanely not. So much so Idk how they even let him play in the band. He's so sloppy it's ridiculous. Pat on the other hand is one of the tightest players out there. There are a lot of songs that they've said they can't play live because "certain members of the band aren't up to it" and he's the only one that fits that description to a tee. I don't mean to dog on the guy too much because I've met him a few times and he's generally a really cool dude, but even he knows his playing isn't the greatest. Even on their slow songs he seems like he's getting lost in the sauce at times. The few times I managed to catch them when it was Jack and Pat though, man oh man were they tight.

The Alex Webster bit I can agree with, he's a great bassist, but I'm not sure I'd call anyone from that band underrated being they're probably the most commercially successful death metal band. If it's not them by this point they're probably trailing right behind Behemoth or something. 

tl;dr, Pat and Alex are amazing musicians. They deserve their praise. Rob is a great dude. His playing not so much.


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## JustinRhoads1980 (Feb 15, 2020)

works0fheart said:


> Honestly, being from Florida I've seen CC more times than I could count. Probably upwards of 15 times. Pat O' Brien is insanely good. Rob Barrett is insanely not. So much so Idk how they even let him play in the band. He's so sloppy it's ridiculous. Pat on the other hand is one of the tightest players out there. There are a lot of songs that they've said they can't play live because "certain members of the band aren't up to it" and he's the only one that fits that description to a tee. I don't mean to dog on the guy too much because I've met him a few times and he's generally a really cool dude, but even he knows his playing isn't the greatest. Even on their slow songs he seems like he's getting lost in the sauce at times. The few times I managed to catch them when it was Jack and Pat though, man oh man were they tight.
> 
> The Alex Webster bit I can agree with, he's a great bassist, but I'm not sure I'd call anyone from that band underrated being they're probably the most commercially successful death metal band. If it's not them by this point they're probably trailing right behind Behemoth or something.
> 
> tl;dr, Pat and Alex are amazing musicians. They deserve their praise. Rob is a great dude. His playing not so much.




Yeah. Hopefully Pat can get back into the spotlight. Ever since the incident shit went radio silent.


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## Alex79 (Feb 15, 2020)

Most of the guys from the big thrash bands are really good (Mustaine, King, Holt, Peterson...).
I'm particularly impressed how Kreator's Mille Petrozza manages to play all that stuff live without any problems... and sing.

Besides metal, I'd say that John Frusciante playing is rather impressive. 

The ultimate master though is Ian D'Sa. His rhythm is tight and his chording is off this world. I tried to learn a couple of their songs and it opened a whole word of different approaches to me.


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## works0fheart (Feb 15, 2020)

JustinRhoads1980 said:


> Yeah. Hopefully Pat can get back into the spotlight. Ever since the incident shit went radio silent.



I was just thinking about that. I feel like I haven't heard anything about that situation from the start. I understand the band probably wants to honor his privacy but I'd at least like to know when he's returning to the fold.


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## Wildebeest (Feb 16, 2020)

Drop from Sybreed, easily. His tone on Pulse of Awakening is my favorite rhythm tone.


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## Mathemagician (Feb 16, 2020)

Guys from Darkest Hour
Guys from As Blood Runs Black
Guy from All Shall Perish - but this one is like cheating since the rhythms are almost leadwork anyways on the last album. 

I don’t know everyone’s names but yeah. Some of my metalcore faves.


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## JoeChugs (Feb 18, 2020)

going to have to be boring and say Hetfield


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## watson503 (Feb 18, 2020)

JustinRhoads1980 said:


> Yeah. Hopefully Pat can get back into the spotlight. Ever since the incident shit went radio silent.


Pat's looking like he's in good health and doing well, saw this yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8qwbuPhoeN/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/c...ien-photographed-for-first-time-since-arrest/


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## JustinRhoads1980 (Feb 19, 2020)

watson503 said:


> Pat's looking like he's in good health and doing well, saw this yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8qwbuPhoeN/?utm_source=ig_embed
> 
> https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/c...ien-photographed-for-first-time-since-arrest/




I saw that aswell.

I wish we could learn more about what the hell is going on with pat.I heard that CC is recording in 2020 so I wanna know if pat will take part or if Rutan will stick around awhile


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## M3CHK1LLA (Feb 19, 2020)

steve clark (rip)


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## Aumann (Feb 24, 2020)

Not that they are my favorite band but John Browne, is right hand picking is just inhuman and hypnotising to look at. He admitted himself that he developed that due to being inspired by Hetfield's playing, so i can totally get whoever mentions Hetfield here.


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## gunch (Feb 24, 2020)

Aumann said:


> Not that they are my favorite band but John Browne, is right hand picking is just inhuman and hypnotising to look at. He admitted himself that he developed that due to being inspired by Hetfield's playing, so i can totally get whoever mentions Hetfield here.


 
Agreed. Wish I could afford riffhard or buy the whole thing up front


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## Aumann (Feb 24, 2020)

gunch said:


> Agreed. Wish I could afford riffhard or buy the whole thing up front


Sheesh i just looked it up and that's a pretty steep monthly fee.


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## rikwebb (Feb 25, 2020)

Hetfield
Malcolm Young
Scott Ian


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Feb 25, 2020)

DudeManBrother said:


> Brian Eschbach. .


Came to post this.



The Mirror said:


> In fact I'd say he totally mops the floor with Hetfield when it comes to more technical rhythm stuff.



Not hating but a lot of people do mop that floor. I cringe when I hear "best right hand in the business". It isn't 1988 and There are kids who were learning master of puppets at age 11.


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## gunch (Feb 25, 2020)

Kevin Heiderich slays all of us eternally with a fuckin GIO (recently upgraded to an RG...350 )




Might I add that MoP alt picked at 300 bpm kind of reminds me of Spawn of Possession's sound


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## Ordacleaphobia (Feb 25, 2020)

gunch said:


> Kevin Heiderich slays all of us eternally with a fuckin GIO (recently upgraded to an RG...350 )



Gets bonus points for posting around here too.
Kevin is a total monster.


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## Santuzzo (Feb 26, 2020)

here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Wes Montgomery
Robben Ford
Nuno
Dave Davidson
John Mayer
Hetfield
EVH


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## yan12 (Feb 26, 2020)

I agree with all these names....I am 49 so I will keep it narrowed to my influences, many already mentioned

EVH
Jake E Lee
Gary Moore
Michael Schenker
Randy Rhoads
Frank Hannon
Ritchie Blackmore
Ted Nugent
Vito Bratta
Paige
….for pure metal there are lots but I lean towards Mustaine, Dime, Eric Peterson


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## gnoll (Feb 26, 2020)

gunch said:


> Might I add that MoP alt picked at 300 bpm kind of reminds me of Spawn of Possession's sound



I don't really get the point of playing mop fast with alt picking. The downpicking is why the song is tough to play. Seems a bit like being challenged to run real fast and deciding to take the bike instead.


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## Santuzzo (Feb 26, 2020)

yan12 said:


> I agree with all these names....I am 49 so I will keep it narrowed to my influences, many already mentioned
> 
> EVH
> Jake E Lee
> ...


 oh yes, I should have added Jake E Lee and Randy Rhoads on my list as well!


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## works0fheart (Feb 27, 2020)

gnoll said:


> I don't really get the point of playing mop fast with alt picking. The downpicking is why the song is tough to play. Seems a bit like being challenged to run real fast and deciding to take the bike instead.



Did you watch the other video? The dude can also play it fast as shit with exclusive downpicking too lol. The man was a touring guitarist for Defeated Sanity, who are pretty well known for their rhythm work and downpicking, and I can assure you their music is significantly harder than any Metallica song by a huge margin.

Here's an example of some crazy downpicking from Oleg/Eptaceros of this board.



Being that someone already mentioned both Spawn of Possession and Kevin, going to go ahead and say that Bryzz from SoP is also insanely tight at rhythm. Here's one of their harder songs.



And here's Kevin's version that's insanely fast.


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## gnoll (Feb 27, 2020)

works0fheart said:


> Did you watch the other video? The dude can also play it fast as shit with exclusive downpicking too lol. The man was a touring guitarist for Defeated Sanity, who are pretty well known for their rhythm work and downpicking, and I can assure you their music is significantly harder than any Metallica song by a huge margin.



No I didn't watch it. My (admittedly grumpy) post wasn't intended as a comment on the guys abilities as I don't know him or those bands. I'm sure he's very good, certainly far better than I am.


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## works0fheart (Feb 27, 2020)

I'm not dogging on you man. That type of playing certainly isn't for anyone. Hell, as far as the sped up things goes it's not necessarily cool to me from an actual musical standpoint, just the technicality. The Master of Puppets one was pretty cool, but some material that's sped up is already cool at it's own tempo, like the SoP song I linked. Shredding isn't everything and playing fast doesn't make someone the be-all-end-all guitar player, but it's definitely impressive from time to time. Cheers to people being civil on the internet with different opinions. More people need your attitude.


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