Impellitteri mastermind / guitarist Chris Impellitteri has checked in with the following:

Malmsteen vs Impellitteri... on a daily basis there seems to be weird people that constantly try to call me a Yngwie clone or ripoff or something of the sort, so I thought I would have some fun and address this once and for all, as I never do.

First of all, I have tremendous respect for Yngwie and he, like Van Halen, Al Dimeola, John McGlaughlin, Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker, Tony Iommi, Paul Gilbert, Uli Roth, Hendrix, John Sykes, Gary Moore, George Lynch, and many more has certainly had some impact on the way I play guitar. However, Al Di Meola, John McGlaughlin, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Tony Iommi, Michael Schenker, Blackmore, Vivaldi, Sykes, have had a significant influence on me ( even early on a guitar player named Jimi Bell was a significant help in influencing my speed and accuracy). To say I am only an Yngwie clone would be spectacularly unfair to all the other guitar players out there, including some of the newer guys closer to my age like Jeff Loomis, Zakk Wylde, Doug Aldrich, and so on that have an effect on me.

I like to think of myself as a sponge. I try to learn from all guitarists / composers and then take that knowledge and incorporate that into my own playing of which makes me, me! It’s funny, I read comments of people saying I even used to dress like Yngwie, which is wrong. In fact, in the 'Stand In Line' music video I am playing a Richie Blackmore Stratocaster, wearing the ridiculous white boots as a tribute to the Rainbow era band with Graham Bonnet(of which Blackmore, Schenker, Uli Roth all wore those boots with two of them playing cream colored Stratocaster with scalloped necks in the 1970’s long before Yngwie...ha ha! ).

On a side note, I think Fender many years ago did give me a red Yngwie Strat which I played but hated. The reason I tried the guitar for a short while was I wanted to try scalloped necks as Uli Roth, McGlaughlin and Blackmore used them for years in the 1970’s and it was the only guitar Fender had in their custom shop with a scalloped neck that I could try.

At the end of the day I view myself much more of a child of players like Al Di Meola blended with a Van Halen and Rhoads, of which is why I sound very American vs European, but Yngwie should still get credit as I certainly feel he has had an influence on me like others. I think I learned the four patterns that I occasionally use from him, although they are really a basic pattern Bach used a lot. I also do think his tone has had an influence on me like Van Halen’s tone on the first record.

In the end there will always be people with differing opinions which they have every right to voice! So please, feel free to say what you want about me... I love it!! But, I thought I would at least give credit to everyone that influences me. Cheers!"

Impellitteri have released a video for their cover of Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Phantom Of The Opera", featured on the band's 11th studio album, The Nature Of The Beast, which was released in October 2018 via via Frontiers Music.

Speaking to Jackson Maxwell of Guitar World, Chris Impellitteri commented, "When we created our musical arrangement for this song, our collective band vision was to basically take the Phantom on a wild musical ride through Hell! We wanted to turn the song into a speed/power metal type song. I will say our version can seem fairly challenging to play as a guitarist due to the various complex scale sequences, modes and speed at which we are playing. At the same time the lead vocals are quite brutal on our singer, Rob Rock, as he had to sing both the male tenor part as well as the female vocal part, which resides in the alto and soprano ranges."  

30 years into their musical career, Impellitteri have created a mind blowing, highly energetic, and thrilling new musical adventure with The Nature Of The Beast. The band is on fire with their musical acrobatics, addictive riffs, shredding guitar solos, speed metal drumming, and screaming power metal vocals that are all ingredients in these killer songs.

Like many of their talented peers, Impellitteri continue to carry the torch for guitar driven heavy metal. On The Nature Of The Beast, the band shines throughout, especially on songs like the power metal driven “Run For Your Life”, the highly energetic remake of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom Of The Universe”, the lunacy of “Gates Of Hell”, the addictive riff of “Hypocrisy”, and the speed metal cover of “Phantom Of The Opera”.

“The new music was written with passion and a sincere love for heavy metal,” says Chris Impellitteri. "I think as a band we grow stronger with each new album. Our artistic abilities seem to get better with age, but at the same time we seem to sound even more energetic, crazy, and youthful with this release. You could say the music on this newest musical child is an extension of our previous record Venom. I love the Venom record, but I am currently obsessed by The Nature Of The Beast. We are thrilled to share this new music with our FANS and friends around the world and I really hope they like it!”

Impellitteri recorded The Nature Of The Beast in Los Angeles, California with legendary engineer/ producer Mike Plotnikoff (Van Halen, Aerosmith, In Flames), mix engineer Greg Reely (Overkill, Fear Factory, Impellitteri), and engineers Jun Murakawa and Sean Shannon.

Like their childhood musical heroes including Vivaldi, Iron Maiden, Queen, Black Sabbath, Al DiMeola, Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin, and Pavarotti, Impellitteri strive for greatness - creating, performing and recording this new music with all four band members, Chris Impellitteri (guitars), Rob Rock (vocals), James Pulli (bass), and Jon Dette (drums) contributing stellar performances. The album was recorded in a grand fashion using large tracking rooms and vintage analog equipment to capture the bands live musical energy and performance.

"As a guitarist I challenge myself to conquer my human limitations,” continues Chris. "I practice for hours each day to improve my technique. I also spend a lot of time customizing my guitars, amps, and pedals to achieve this crazy guitar sound. On this new record my guitar sound is really me trying to create a tone that sounds a bit like a chainsaw blended with a beautiful Stradivarius violin. It is Beauty and the Beast with lots of pick attack! The guitar solos have lots of technical shredding elements, but at the same time they are very melodic and I think fun for everyone to listen too. The riffs are also exciting for me to play as there is a lot of obvious influences that I brought to this new record."

"Hypocrisy"
"Masquerade"
"Run For Your Life"
"Phantom Of The Opera" (Andrew Lloyd Webber cover)
"Gates Of Hell"
"Wonder World"
"Man Of War"
"Symptom Of The Universe" (Black Sabbath cover)

"Do You Think I’m Mad"
"Fire It Up"
"Kill The Beast"
"Shine On"

"Symptom Of The Universe video:"

"Run For Your Life" video: