Steve Smyth (born November 28, 1970) is an American musician who is currently the guitarist for

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

band One Machine. He has previously played guitar with many metal bands including Vicious Rumors,

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

Nevermore Nevermore is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band was formed after three of its members — vocalist Warrel Dane, bassist Jim Sheppard and guitarist Jeff Loomis — ended their prev ...

and Forbidden.

Biography

Smyth was born in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

and started his career in the female-fronted five-piece

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band Ariah in 1988. Ariah never released an official studio album, but they recorded a few demos and played local shows. Ariah disbanded in 1992. After a three-year hiatus, he joined the

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

band Vicious Rumors to replace guitarist Mark McGee who had left the band after the death of Vicious Rumors vocalist Carl Albert. '' Something Burning'' (1996) was the first album which Smyth played on. It was followed by '' Cyberchrist'' in 1998, and now he participated in songwriting too. In 1999, Smyth left Vicious Rumors and joined

. The Bay Area thrash legend had just released ''The Gathering'' album, but lead guitarist James Murphy was diagnosed with a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

, so Testament were in want of a new guitarist for the forthcoming tour. In the next five years, Smyth toured with Testament all around the globe and played uncountable shows as a member of the band, although he never recorded and album with them. On the other hand, Smyth formed the band Dragonlord as a side project with guitarist

Eric Peterson Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian television series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (live-action 2004–2009 and fi ...

and bassist

Steve DiGiorgio Steve Di Giorgio (born November 7, 1967) is an American bass guitarist. He is known for his work with numerous heavy metal bands such as Sadus (of which he was a co-founder), Death, Testament, Megadeth, Sebastian Bach, Iced Earth, Autopsy, Obit ...

of Testament in 2000. This

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. History One of the earliest forerunners in what would come to be the sound of symphonic metal was Celtic Frost ...

outfit have released two albums: ''

Rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

'' (2001) and '' Black Wings of Destiny'' (2005).

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

-based

had been friends with Smyth prior to his joining of the band. Initially jokingly, he asked if he could join Nevermore. He joined Nevermore as a touring guitarist, and in 2004, Smyth officially joined the band after helping them tour in Europe. He played guitar in the band along with

Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...

and co-wrote some songs on the critically acclaimed album '' This Godless Endeavor'' (2005). On April 30, 2006, Smyth released a message explaining to fans that he has been diagnosed with

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

due to a

congenital A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

birth defect A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can range from mild to severe. Birth de ...

. Updates followed on May 30, June 3, and August 9, 2006, on his official website. On December 12, 2006, Smyth had a successful

kidney transplantation Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

. Smyth guest starred as Snazz of Pickles' former band Snakes n' Barrels in two episodes of ''

Metalocalypse ''Metalocalypse'' is an American Musical film, musical adult animated television series created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for Adult Swim. It premiered on August 6, 2006. The television program centers on the larger-than-life melodic deat ...

''. In the summer of 2007, Smyth left Nevermore due to "personal and business differences". At that time he was working on an all-instrumental album in the vein of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

with his former Ariah bandmate and bassist Steve Hoffman. This side project was named "EssenEss" after their same first names, as a transcription of S'n'S (Steve and Steve). Self-titled ''The EssenEss Project'' debut album released on November 5, 2007. Smyth currently is teaching at the London Institute of Contemporary Music Performance and is now a member of Forbidden. Steve started an international metal band with classic and modern influences, featuring members carefully selected by Smyth: Mikkel Sandager (Mercenary) on vocals, Jamie Hunt (Biomechanical) sharing guitar duties, rounded out by a powerhouse rhythm section with Tomas "O'Beast" Koefoed ( Mnemic) on bass guitar and Michele Sanna on drums (although former drummer Raphael Saini of Italian band Chaoswave played on the album). Their debut album ''The Distortion of Lies and the Overdriven Truth'' was released on February 18, 2014, via Scarlet Records. The CD was recorded and produced by Steve Smyth and was mixed by Roy Z (

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present d ...

, Halford). It was mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, with artwork created by Niklas Sundin from Cabin Fever Media, complemented with photography from Anthony Dubois. In 2014, Smyth joined the thrash/

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

supergroup From Hell alongside Damien Sisson of

Death Angel Death Angel is an American thrash metal band from Daly City, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. They have released nine studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and three live albums. The band has gone thr ...

and Paul Bostaph of

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

. Their debut album ''Ascent from Hell'' was released on April 8, 2014, via Scourge Records.

Discography

Albums

Vicious Rumors

*1996 - '' Something Burning'' (Massacre) *1998 - '' Cyberchrist'' (Massacre)

Dragonlord

*2001 - ''

'' (Spitfire) *2005 - '' Black Wings of Destiny'' (Escapi)

Nevermore

*2005 - '' This Godless Endeavor'' (Century Media)

HateSphere

*2005 - " The Sickness Within" (SPV/Steamhammer) (Guest leads on the song "Marked by Darkness")

The EssenEss Project

*2007 - ''The EssenEss Project'' (Two Louder Music)

Intense

*2009 - "Hyperphysics" (Wiolence Worldwide) (Guest leads on the songs "The Wizard", "Burn One" and "Bloodborne")

Forbidden

*2010 - '' Omega Wave'' (Nuclear Blast)

Electric Punishment

*2013 - "Pressure Spike" (Wiolence Worldwide) (Guest leads on the songs "Pressure Spike", "Cold Day In June" and "Coerced")

One Machine

*2014 - "The Distortion of Lies and the Overdriven Truth" (Scarlet Records)

From Hell

*2014 - "Ascent from Hell" (Scourge Records.)

Videos

Testament

*1999 - ''Live in Tokyo, Japan'' DVD (official bootleg) *1999 - ''Live in Osaka, Japan'' DVD (official bootleg) *2000 ''- Live Dynamo Open Air 2000, Eindhoven, The Netherlands'' (official bootleg) *2003 - ''Live Wacken, Germany'' DVD (official bootleg) *2003 - ''Live in Tilburg, The Nederlands'' DVD (official bootleg)

References

External links

*
The EssenEss Project
Smyth's project with Steven A. Hoffman and Atma Anur
Steve Smyth interview on Maximum Threshold 10/2007 Interview with Steve Smyth @ Skylight Webzine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Steve American seven-string guitarists American black metal musicians 1970 births Living people American heavy metal guitarists Forbidden (band) members Nevermore members Testament (band) members Vicious Rumors members