Fall has been kind to the mighty Incantation. They released their boss new album Vanquish In Vengeance (read more about the creation of the album in our new issue). And they charted like a Britney Spears single in our top 100 death metal albums of all time. One of the reasons they are shredding so hard of late is the work of second guitarist Alex Bouks, formerly of Goreaphobia. The dude shreds so hard you can’t even see his face in all of these live photos. Please welcome Mr. Bouks to the Shredder’s Studio.
Cheers to everyone! Alex Bouks here to shed light on the master riffs that helped me go down the dark path in metal.
Black Sabbath – “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”: The first riff I learned on guitar and still one of the heaviest riffs ever. I love the dynamics between the crushing heavy riffs into the atmospheric folk acoustic parts. Don’t forget the dramatic extreme heavy ending. Iommi is still king of the almighty riff!
Celtic Frost – “Dethroned Emperor”: Tom Warrior’s morbid, evil riffs and his guitar tone going back to the Hellhammer stuff inspires me still today. His writing and riffs had such a primitive approach. That always said to me that you don’t need to be technically proficient to get a feeling across. Anyone can play a million miles an hour but you can move mountains with your music.
Iron Maiden – “Purgatory”: The best guitar team in the history of metal — Murray and Smith! It doesn’t get any better. What a perfect mix. Still the greatest metal band of all time for me. The only band that covered my entire room as a kid. These guys are one of the reasons I play guitar.
Voivod- “Korgull the Exterminator”: Piggy was an innovator. He brought dissonance, darkness and psychedelia into extreme metal. Listening to him I knew you could do more then your basic power chords. He created his own path. And that is the most important thing in music — identity.
Death – “Baptized in Blood”: This was my introduction into the underground world of tape trading. I received a copy of the “Infernal Death” demo. This set me on a mission to create the most brutal and evil shit I could. This was death metal in its purest form. Long live Evil Chuck!
Mercyful Fate – “Black Funeral”: Fate included one of my other fave guitar teams, Denner and Sherman. Fate took all that darkness and made some of the greatest and most melodic music. I heard this and was taken by the dark atmosphere.
Motorhead – “Overkill:” I think this was my introduction into the extreme world of heavy metal. Fast Eddie is one of my fave guitar players of all time and an undeniable influence.
Bathory – “Call From The Grave:” One of the darkest riffs ever written. The down picked strumming and atmospheric chords opened my eyes to another world and way of approaching the instrument.
Judas Priest -“Exciter” (Unleashed In The East version): My first Priest record. The early Priest records are some of the most important music in my life. Seeing K.K. Downing with the flying V made me look at guitar playing as a sort of weapon. You could actually kill with your music.
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