Lee Altus (born Leonid Altus, May 13, 1966) is a guitarist who is a member of the
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
bands
Exodus and
Heathen.
Career
Altus first came to public attention in the mid-1980s with his original band,
Heathen. He served as the principal songwriter and a founding member of Heathen playing on all four of their LPs, ''
Breaking the Silence'', ''
Victims of Deception'', ''
The Evolution of Chaos'' and ''
Empire of the Blind''. In 1990, Altus was considered for the position in
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
vacated by
Jeff Young, but declined, and the job was given instead to
Marty Friedman
(born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...
. He later became a permanent member of the band
Exodus.
After Heathen broke up in 1992, Altus moved to Germany along with his fellow ex-Heathen members
Doug Piercy and Darren Minter. Altus and Minter played in the
industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...
group
Die Krupps
Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/electronic body music, EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf.
The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, i ...
for much of the remainder of the 1990s. He also participated in a reunited version of
Angel Witch.
In 2001, Altus reunited Heathen along with Minter, vocalist Dave White, bassist Mike Jastremski and guitarist
Ira Black. The band put out an EP entitled ''Recovered'', made up of rare material and, with a new second guitarist and bassist, in 2010 released ''
The Evolution of Chaos'', followed a decade later by ''
Empire of the Blind'' (2020). Altus has been a member of the
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
thrash metal band
Exodus since 2005, replacing longtime guitarist Rick Hunolt. To date, Altus has performed on six studio albums with Exodus: ''
Shovel Headed Kill Machine'' (2005), ''
The Atrocity Exhibition'' (2007), ''
Let There Be Blood'' (2008), ''
Exhibit B: The Human Condition'' (2010), ''
Blood In, Blood Out'' (2014) and ''
Persona Non Grata
In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...
'' (2021).
Personal life
Lee was born Leonid Altus on May 13, 1966 in
Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
,
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
,
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
(now
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
). Lee is a longtime fan of the
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...
NHL franchise, including wearing Flyers shirts while headlining the 2020
70,000 Tons of Metal festival.
Equipment
Altus currently endorses
ESP Guitars, though he used to play
Jackson King V guitars. Altus was a long time user of
Mesa/Boogie Amplifiers as well, but is currently an ENGL endorsee.
Notes
References
External links
*
Interview with Lee Altus and his motherfrom
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
, 1987
1966 births
20th-century American guitarists
21st-century American guitarists
American heavy metal guitarists
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Angel Witch members
California Republicans
Die Krupps members
Exodus (American band) members
Heathen (band) members
Jewish heavy metal musicians
Lead guitarists
Living people
Musicians from Odesa
Ukrainian emigrants to the United States
Thrash metal musicians
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