Isaac Delahaye (born 9 January 1982) is a Belgian guitarist and composer, best known as the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

of Dutch symphonic metal band

Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band), a Dutch symphonic metal band * ''Epica'' (Kamelot album), 2003 * ''Epica'' (Audiomachine album), 2012 * The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) * The Epica Awards (International Adver ...

since 2009. Prior to that he was lead guitarist in the Dutch death metal band

God Dethroned God Dethroned is a Dutch extreme metal band from Beilen, originally formed in 1990. Biography God Dethroned was formed in 1990 by singer and guitar player Henri Sattler, with Hans Leegstra (guitar) and Ard de Weerd. Sattler and Leegstra had pr ...

. Delahaye replaced former guitarist Jens van der Valk in God Dethroned after van der Valk left in 2004. He joined the band after a request from drummer and longtime friend

Ariën van Weesenbeek God Dethroned is a Dutch extreme metal band from Beilen, originally formed in 1990. Biography God Dethroned was formed in 1990 by singer and guitar player Henri Sattler, with Hans Leegstra (guitar) and Ard de Weerd. Sattler and Leegstra had pre ...

and after several meetings with van Weesenbeek and

Henri Sattler God Dethroned is a Dutch extreme metal band from Beilen, originally formed in 1990. Biography God Dethroned was formed in 1990 by singer and guitar player Henri Sattler, with Hans Leegstra (guitar) and Ard de Weerd. Sattler and Leegstra had pr ...

, Delahaye was welcomed into the band on 29 June 2004. On 15 January 2009, the official announcement came that Isaac was no longer a part of God Dethroned. Soon afterwards, an announcement came from the band Epica that proclaimed Delahaye as their recently hired guitarist. Delahaye once used exclusively

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002, which manufactures Jackson-branded guita ...

, his primary ones being a green Jackson Kelly and a black Jackson Kelly that have Seymour Duncan pickups with a Floyd Rose tremolo. More recently he has been using

Ibanez Guitars is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United Sta ...

, primarily his custom seven version of DN500K Darkstone, which he describes as an "Integral part of the sound of Epica". In an interview with Moshville Uk he states that he uses a Les Paul Black Beauty and en Epiphone custom for in the studio for solos, due to their thinner necks than the Darkstone. He also mentions that he uses a Maton 808 custom series TE acoustic. He uses Bogner amplifiers including the Uberschall and Shiva 25th Anniversary edition and in the studio mixes his guitar sound with an Axe FX II and SansAmp. He and also has used Bogner and V-Empire 2x12 Cabinets with V30 speakers. Delahaye was a member of the symphonic death metal band MaYaN from 2010–2013. He appeared on the album ''Quarterpast''. He was replaced by

Merel Bechtold Merel Bechtold (born February 27, 1992) is a guitarist from the Netherlands. She was born in Blaricum. She started playing guitar in 2007 at the age of fifteen. Half a year later she founded the band Purest of Pain, in which she played lead guit ...

as rhythm guitarist.

Musical style

Delahaye incorporates legato, alternate picking, tremolo picking, tapping, and use of the whammy bar in his solos.

Education

Isaac has a Bachelor of Music degree.

Extra gear

*Gibson Les Paul Standard 7 String Limited 2016 Heritage Cherry Sunburst *Gibson Les Paul Standard 7 String Limited 2016 Tobacco Burst *InTune Picks *Morley + Boss Pedals *Sennheiser Wireless + In Ear Monitoring *American Music Products Straps *Audio Technika Mics *Ernie Ball Strings

References

1982 births Living people Black metal musicians Epica (band) members Heavy metal guitarists Belgian rock guitarists Musicians from Ypres 21st-century guitarists God Dethroned members Mayan (band) members Codarts University for the Arts alumni {{metal-music-stub