The Top 50 Metal Guitarists - 40 to 31

The death of a guitarist I played with turned my thoughts to what makes a good guitarist great. Metal finds the stakes for guitarists high. Shredding can come before playing a fucking song. While all of these guitarists can play a solo, I was also looking for tone, impact on the genre as a whole and how their personalities came through in their playing. So this list of the top 50 Metal Guitarists. If you don't find your favorite guitar player here then know they were just wankers.


40-Joey Z

How memorable is your work? Joey would answer very, which is why he is hanging tough along side guitarists who might be more technically sound. He is like the hard core little brother of Kirk Hammett the way he works cool melody lines into their riffs.


39-Eyal Levi

The problem with most death metal that makes it not worth a second listen is the guitarists all go for maximum speed and density, think being influenced by Slayer instead of Incantation is expanding their horizons, and play variations of the solos found on "Altars of Madness" . Eyal did not follow the status quo in that regard. He brought a hooky sense of groove to his band and layered it with neo-classical musicality that did not demand a pirate shirt to be worn.



38-Vivian Campbell 

He plays on the first 3 Dio albums...end of story


36-Chris De Garmo

There was once a awesome band who lost their guitarist who crafted their best work, then became a variation of Spinal Tap.



35-Bill Steer 

Helped create grind core. Napalm Death brought the more spastic elements, while his band brought the more gore ridden death metal elements to it. The riffs are so mean they would eat you if he was not a vegetarian.He proves brutality and melody can co-exist.





34 William Wright Barrow

This British gent brings a dignified and progressive quality to his band's brand of black metal that almost makes it steam punk in the nuanced Victorian quirk it possesses , so to make sounds that are visual is a feat. 




 33-Devin Townsend 

Got his start playing with Steve Vai. He then thought he could keep up with the drummer from Dark Angel. His various projects have covered a broad expanse some more metal than others. He has a distinct tone.


32-Peter Lindgren

He originally joined the band as a bass player and switched to guitar. As his band's vocals shifted their focus and added melody he augmented his playing to do the same incorporating a David Gilmore like sense for less is more.

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31-Greg Chandler 

He brought a degree of musicality to funeral doom that has been rarely rivaled in the genre. This tone grasps the kind of despair needed. He paints sonic picture rather than just overpowering you with a wall of feed back and distortion.