Joel McIver's 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists list

Another blatant example of saying what people want to hear.He's ranked Dimebag at 5,ABOVE Schuldiner and Becker.Seriously????

1 Dave Mustaine- Megadeth
2 John Petrucci- Dream Theater
3 Jeff Waters- Annihilator
4 Zakk Wylde- Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne
5 Dimebag- Pantera, Damage plan
6 Tony Iomi- Black Sabbath
7 Trey Azagthoth- Morbid Angel
8 James Hetfield- Metallica
9 Mikeal Akerfeldt- Opeth, Bloodbath
10 Chuck Schukdiner- Death, Control Denied
11 Fredrik Thordendal- Meshuggah
12 Pat Obrien- Cannibal Corpse
13 Alex Skolnick- Testament
14 Ralph Santolla- Deicide, Obituary, Iced Earth
15 Kirk Hammett- Metallica
16 Tom Morello- Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave
17 Ihsahn ( Vegard Sverre Tveitan)- Emperor
18 Kerry King- Slayer
19 Mick Thomson- Slipknot
20 Herman Li- Dragonforce
21 Alex Laiho- Children Of Bodom
22 Jeff Hanneman- Slayer
23 Phil Demmel- Machine Head
24 Samoth (Tomas Haugen)- Emperor, Zyklon
25 Glen Tipton- Judas Priest
26 Marty Friedman- Megadeth, Cacophony
27 James Murphy- Death, Testament
28 Michael Amott- Arch Enemy, Carcass
29 K.K Downing- Judas Priest
30 Marten Hagstrom- Meshuggah
31 Alex Auburn- Cryptopsy
32 Ron Jarzombek- Watchtower, Blotted Science
33 Christopher Amott- Arch Enemy
34 Bjorn Gelotte- In Flames
35 Erik Rutan- Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel
36 Eric Peterson- Testament
37 Rudolf Schenker- Scorpions
38 Jeff Loomis- Nevermore
39 Fredrik Akesson- Opeth
40 Andres Bjoler- The Haunted, At The Gates
41 Adrian Smith- Iron Maiden
42 Michael Schenker- Michael Schenker Group, Scorpions, UFO
43 Dino Cazares- Divine Heresy, Fear Factory
44 Waclaw 'Vogg' Kieltyka- Decapitated
45 Jensen (Patrik Jensen)- The Haunted
46 Rob Barrett- Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation
47 Dave Murray- Iron Maiden
48 Kai Hansen- Gamma Ray. Helloween
49 Andreas Kisser- Sepultura
50 Devin Townsend- Strapping Young Lad
51 James Root- Slipknot, Stone Sour
52 Karl Sanders- Nile
53 Corey Beaulieu- Trivium
54 Matt Bachand- Shadows Fall
55 Gary Holt- Exodus
56 Rand Burkey- Atheist
57 Mille Petrozza- Kreator
58 Scott Ian- Anthrax
59 Timo Tolkki- Stratovarius
60 Andy La Rocque- King Diamond, Death
61 Martin Larsson- At The Gates
62 Chris Degarmo- Queensryche
63 Niklas Sundin- Dark Tranquility
64 Andre Olbrich- Blind Guardian
65 Jon Schaffer- Iced Earth
66 Synyster Gates ( Brian Haner JR.)- Avenged Sevenfold
67 Matt Heafy- Trivium
68 Piotr Wiwczarek- Vader
69 Dallas Toler-Wade- Nile
70 Jason Mendonca- Akercocke
71 Jesse Pintado- Terrorizer, Napalm Death
72 Marc Rizzo- Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy
73 Zacky Vengeance (Zachary Baker)- Avenged Sevenfold
74 Jack Owen- Decide, Cannibal Corpse
75 Sam Totman- Dragonforce
76 Matt Tuck- Bullet For My Valentine
77 Matthias Jabs- Scorpions
78 Kirk Windstein- Down, Crowbar
79 Thomas Fischer- Celtic Frost, Hellhammer
80 Janick Gers- Iron Maiden
81 Dan Spitz- Anthrax
82 Chris Poland- Megadeth, Ohm
83 Dave Suzuki- Vital Remains
84 Michael Weikath- Helloween
85 Max Cavalera- Soulfly, Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy
86 'Fast' Eddie Clarke- Motorhead, Fastway
87 Michael Denner- Mercyful Fate, Force Of Evil
88 Stefan Elmgren- Hammerfall
89 Galder (Thomas Rune Andersen)- Dimmu Borgir, Old Man's Child
90 Paul Allender- Cradle Of Filth
91 Paul Masvidal- Cynic
92 Mantas (Jeff Dunn)- Venom
93 Robb Flyn- Machinehead
94 Dan Swano- Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath
95 Joe Duplanter- Gojira, Cavalera Conspiracy
96 Michael Romeo- Symphony X
97 Jim Martin- Faith No More
98 Matt Wilcock- Akercocke, The Berzerker
99 Peter Lindren- Opeth
100 Euronymous (Oystein Aarseth)- Mayhem

Where Talent and Conviction Unite

The year is 2010. Mankind is under threat. A dark power that reared its head in the scorching summer of 2005 AD is now preparing for its final attack on the world. Only the chosen warrior can save mankind.

Who is this chosen warrior? Well, that is not important. What is important is that 2010 AD is definitely the year that Demonic Resurrection, one of India's longest-lasting and most indefatigable metal bands conquers the world. 4 years after they released their 2nd full-length album 'A Darkness Descends', comes the 3rd part of the Darkness trilogy, 'The Return to Darkness' (the 2nd was their EP 'Beyond the Darkness'). Released (as usual) by vocalist/guitarist Sahil Makhija's own Demonstealer Records, this album has 'breakthrough' permanently tattoed all over it.

The band has gone through an art makeover courtesy of Polish designer/animator Machael 'Xaay' Loranc (of Nile, Behemoth, Necrophagist and Vader fame) who has delivered a very European look for the band's new logo. The front cover art is a craftily designed fisheye of a cityscape under siege from a group of very skeletal yet plasmic entities released by a celestial vortex. The CD itself was released as a box set containing a well-designed t-shirt, a pair of guitar plectra (one of which I've already lost), a sticker and a band poster; the last 3 items being snugly packaged within a solid cardboard 'jewel case'. The band has gone through a few lineup changes as well with new drummer Virendra Kaith and a solid lead guitarist in the form of Daniel Rego as the latest acquisitions.

The biggest difference though, is the sound of the band's music itself. The album opens with the a digitized, muffled wail loop that is soon joined by a violin chorus à la keyboard player Mephisto, who then proceeds to add a percussive bass beat. This now full-blown orchestral crescendo is called 'Between Infinity and Oblivion'. A truly epic herald of more musical greatness. The next track now cracks open- 'Where Dream and Darkness Unite'. The band's wondrous ESP strings and Mapex drum kit literally blast into a tune that reminds one of Dimmu Borgir's 'Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny', except the presence of orchestral keys and very well-polished death growl strike a different epic nerve in the listener's body.

This album, like this song, is a highlight of the evolution that the band has gone through musically. In essence, nothing has changed in terms of how they define their music; a mix of black, death and power metal. But while previous releases saw a more-or-less disjointed exhibition of the 3 genres, this album sees the band dissecting each genre and bringing out exactly what they do to the brain of the listener. And it doesn't stop there. They combine the mood of one genre with the exterior playing style of another. This has resulted in the band taking an overall symphonic path which only seems natural as symphonies cater to both the dark and light side of human emotion.

The whole album is a highly dynamic one. There are a lot more changes in time signature, beat patterns, vocal style and the intent behind the emotion ins a song section. Unlike on its predecessor, the band has not really aimed solely at creating an extreme sound. In fact, the great thing about this album for me is how emotionally driven it is. The dynamic nature of it has been achieved solely due to to this very fact. This has led to a lot of innovation in the sound of the band. 'A Tragedy Befallen' has a very power metal sound throughout, even though its brought out through harsh vocals for the most part. In fact, some sections seem to strike the same emotional chord as later Kamelot albums. 'Bound by Blood,Fire and Stone' sees a brilliantly executed section where a blast beat battery fuses eclectically with a digitized whisper which in turn is synchronized with a crafty channel interpolation of a series of triple-picked duets on the strings. To top it all is a beat-synchronized ambient flourish from the keys.

Every great album has a landmark track. Without a doubt its 'Lord of Pestilence' on this one. The intro is a look back at one of their signature tracks of yesteryears 'Frozen Portrait'. It features a similar flanger-drenched clean guitar intro expect this one is not just a happy tune. It goes on for about 3 minutes of an emotional roller coaster ride before blasting into a blast beat driven section. The rest of the 8 and a half minutes of this track makes the listener feel like he is sitting through a sci-fi fantasy movie. There is conflict, there is resolution, there are twists and there are emotional beats.

The album ends with 'Omega,I', a perfect closing tune for a brilliant epic. The continuity throughout the album is quite fulfilling. So is its overall duration. Every song seems related to every other both on a musical and lyrical scale (of which the latter I find secondary compared to the former in importance). Despite the huge length of most of the songs, there is never a dull moment in the album. In fact, if any of the songs were shorter I believe it would have been a cause for concern. The musicians have all grown to huge levels on this album and the new inclusions should not go away to soon, especially drummer Virendra Kaith.

And so, the Darkness trilogy comes to an end. The warrior has emerged victorious over the dark power. But the real world metal scene will now witness an inevitable rise of a new power: prepare your legions for India's own Demonic Resurrection.

Return to Singapore

I fly out tonight.

I wonder what she will say to me...

I hope its a yes.