Speaking with Ultimate Guitar, guitarist Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, ex-Nevermore) revealed why he switched from playing 6-string to 7-string guitars:

"Meshuggah. I love that band, man. When they first came out, I just loved that tone, that low end. I was initially using six-strings for the first couple of Nevermore records and when we decided to record Dead Heart in a Dead World back in 2000, I had a luthier friend of mine make me a seven string and when I first started playing it, it was just so intense-sounding.

I was going into a Mesa Boogie with an Ibanez Tube Screamer in front of it. I just got this brutal sound. So I decided to write that whole album with that guitar. That was kind of a turning point for Nevermore as far as sound goes. Our songs just became that much more intense. That's how I came to be known as a seven-string player. That was in the summer of 2000. I ended up doing that for about 18 more years with Nevermore and the seven-string kind of became my signature instrument.

I have my own signature guitar with Schecter called the Jeff Loomis JL7 Model and that's kind of my legacy with Schecter. I've been using that guitar for years now and it's just kind of become a staple of my playing. It's a guitar that I will probably always use for the rest of my life. So it's a really nice guitar."

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Guitar geek Rob Scallon, known for his innovative covers of metal classics using the ukelele, banjo or whatever interument happens to be on hand, released a new album of original material earlier this year entitled The Scene Is Dead. A video for the track "Gateways" featuring a guest solo by Loomis is available below.