Ever since the electric guitar has existed, so has the desire to play it as fast as humanly possible. While shredding seemed to have reached its pinnacle in the ’80s, in recent years bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Dragonforce have unironically picked up where their high-speed predecessors left off. Here are some of our favorite shredders from the past and today.
Yngwie Malmsteen — You may not hear much from neo-classical Swedish shredder Yngwie Malmsteen these days, but the charismatic guitarist is largely responsible for introducing blazing guitar solos to the mainstream via albums like Rising Force. Say what you want about his personality, but Malmsteen took influences like Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Blackmore and was able to recontextualize them into his own unique style, which took as much from rock legends as it did Baroque composers. Like any trailblazer, Malmsteen left a trail of copycats more concerned with playing fast than being musical, but that shouldn’t lessen his own contributions to the shredding universe.
Michael Angelo Batio — It should come as no surprise that Michael Angelo’s DVD guitar lesson is called Speed Kills. The Chicago-based guitarist is able to play so quickly that it’s sometimes hard to discern the inpidual notes — and that’s not even counting the fact that the ambidextrous shredder is able to play two guitars at once, something you truly need to see to believe. Despite Batio's over-the-top playing and persona, he’s grounded enough to have given lessons to emerging artists like Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello and Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti in order to, as Batio puts it, “hand over the keys to the Lamborghini.”
Paul Gilbert — If you only know Paul Gilbert as the guitarist in Mr. Big, you’re missing out on some of this virtuoso’s most jaw-dropping fretwork. In fact, via Racer X and his own extensive solo career, Gilbert has taken high-octane guitar playing to previously unforeseen levels. While there are a lot of guitar players who can race against the metronome, Gilbert is on this list because instead of merely imitating neo-classical icons like Malmsteen, his inventive style — which includes 3-string arpeggios and inventive effects — incorporates various other elements of Western music to make for a more cerebral shred that’s as satisfying as it is speedy.
Buckethead — While no one is sure of the identity of the enigmatic guitarist Buckethead, it’s difficult to argue against his virtuosity on guitar. While Buckethead’s brand of shred has much in common with Paul Gilbert, the eccentric KFC-wearing guitarist also implements robot sounds and other unorthodox effects to create a subgenre of “avant-shred.” Although we may not know Buckethead’s true identity, luckily there’s no lack of material when you consider that the guitarist releases a new collaboration seemingly every month and all of them explore a different facet of his unique playing style.
Herman Li and Sam Totman — Herman Li and Sam Totman are technically two separate individuals, but they may as well be one entity when they merge together to smash the conventions of what you can and can’t do with an electric guitar in Dragonforce. Although both players take their cues from the '80s shred elite, they’ve been able to transcend the shred genre and introduce today’s youth to accelerated picking by combining traditional shred elements with techniques that sound straight out of a vintage Nintendo game.
Joe Stump — It's pretty obvious that Joe Stump is heavily influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen in everything from his choice of a scalloped-fretboard to his neo-classical style and flowing mane of hair. However, Stump made this list because of his extensive understanding of scales and theory; his résumé includes being a teacher at Boston's Berklee College Of Music, and his training adds a welcome dose of melodicism to his breakneck shredding. Not many guitarists can name their albums Speed Metal Messiah or Supersonic Shred Machine without sounding pompous, but Stump can. Check out this clip if you don’t believe us:
The Great Kat — The Great Kat is a classically trained violinist from Julliard who at some point decided to hang up her violin for an axe and became the world’s foremost female shredder. In fact, if you think composers like Antonio Vivaldi and Niccolò Paganni are just stuffy old white guys, wait until you see a leather-and-fishnet clad wild woman bump up the BPMs and give her male counterparts like Malmsteen and Stump a serious run for their money. Guitar World has voted The Great Kat one of the “50 Fastest Guitarists Of All-Time,” but you really need to see her videos in order to comprehend just how talented — and completely over-the-top — the Great Kat's persona is in person.
Synyster Gates — Avenged Sevenfold’s lead guitarist Synyster Gates is another axeman who is at the forefront of the new generation of shredders. Since joining A7X almost a decade ago, his playing has improved exponentially, making him one of the most exciting guitarists out there today. Although it might not be obvious at first, Gates studied jazz guitar at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood and has been able to merge his traditional schooling with an extreme metal edge that allows him to switch between harmonized riffs and blistering solos on a dime.