TESTAMENT's Alex Skolnick Featured On Guitar Edge Website
November 21, 2009, 14 years ago
TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick is featured in a new Guitar Edge article. An excerpt is available below.
Approaching the sessions (for The Formation Of Damnation) with all that modern technology has to offer, Skolnick insisted that Testament exercise some old-school wisdom.
“One thing that helped the new album is that we demoed all the songs live,” Skolnick explains. “When the band recorded the basic tracks and I wasn’t there, they had references for my parts. On the songs where I contributed more of the music, they knew what I wanted regarding tempo, and the role of the other instruments. The whole pre-production process was done very old-school; that gave us a foundation. As we went forward, we could change things by using technology, but it all started with live, in-the-room recording.”Go to this location for the complete article.
As previously reported, Skolnick recently issued the following update:
"Recently a writer from The Quietus, Mark Eglinton, asked for my thoughts on METALLICA's James Hetfield. While it's no secret that the fans, myself included, haven't always agreed with every decision Metallica has made as a band, I've chosen to look at a subject which seems to have gotten lost in the chaos of Metallica's superstardom: James, the musician.James Hetfield is a an unsung virtuoso. His guitar and vocal sound, along with his song ideas, has enabled Metallica to go from being classified alongside MOTÖRHEAD and VENOM to being aligned with Bruce Springsteen and U2. Much of hard music today has been changed by his guitar tone, rhythm playing and vocal technique, making him arguably the most influential musician of his generation.
James has had more of an influence than most 'lead' guitarists and is a great lead guitarist himself. His occasional solos are among Metallica's most memorable, proving that speed and chops are secondary to melody. He is also a terrific acoustic guitarist, playing intricate parts with a lot of depth, consistency and dynamics.
I'm convinced that had he chosen to play drums, bass or lead guitar in his band, James Hetfield would have been just as influential and virtuosic."
