Metal is often challenging music to play, and these two players really exemplify the insanely high level of musical prowess evident in the genre, right now.
Yeah Revocation was really that transition from thrash metal to death metal for me. Once I heard their cover of Sworn to the Black I started checking out the OG DM bands.
Yep, me three. Rev's thrash lured me in, then made DM palatable to me for the first time. Dismantle the Dictator's jazzy fresh sound caught my attention though, ironically.
I showed interest in jazz because of Alex and got even more invested because of Davidson. It's been a decade and I'm about to transfer into my Jazz Studies undergrad. It's made me a better metal player and just a more well-rounded musician in general.
I think jazz training really expands a musician's repertoire. For example, if you are a death metal drummer it might not hurt to have some jazz drum lessons. It helps create possibilities of different places that you can go to.
one of the coolest stories I have is after they headlined Armstrong Metalfest, I was driving both guitar players from Revocation back to their hotel, and they were discussing Chopin vs Liszt in the back seat.
Music has always, and will always be a mood based creature for me. There are days I love metal, days I love jazz, and dare I say, even days I really dig country. It is really amazing listening to someone like Alex Skolnick break down how he sneaks jazz sounds in to his metal solos, and Davidson discuss the wide variety of jazz influences he's had over the years. Very cool!
You know, I think the best part about these two guys is that they are both supremely kind, and genuine humans. I've enjoyed their music for years. Seeing how friendly and generous they both are with fans at shows is really the ultimate testament to their character. Their talent is obvious, there can be no revocation of that fact.
I feel same way listenin to paul gilbert explai n a beast but also funny guy, Steve Vai explaining Guitar method & psychology ,another good thing we got to set our Mind straight to improve, also being relax at all times
Two of my favorite guitarists at the moment. Been following Skolnick since "The Legacy" came out in 1987. Now recently discovering Davidson, I've had their tunes in my car on repeat for months now.
From the Testament -Electric Crown -seasons of grey , Sins Of Omission , 7 days of May , Fallin fast listen to Alex Skolnics his added pinch harmonics ,cool guy
The formation of damnation is an outstanding album, early 2000’s we’re a great time for testament, and Skolnik was my favorite guitarist in the scene. Good memories:)
It surprises me that Alex would think any specific run of notes would be too jazzy for metal. It's all about the delivery. Metal lead playing will accept pretty much any series of notes that make sense musically over the backdrop, and even a lot that doesn't make a damn bit of melodic sense.
@@richardhunter9779 He's one of my favorite guitarists, so I completely get what you're saying. I would never pretend to have the experience or depth of knowledge that Alex has, and I don't play jazz. I have been playing guitar for long enough to know that we all have our own musical opinions about what works and what doesn't, and any one expert's opinion doesn't invalidate other viewpoints.
yeah just about any choice of notes can be made to work, just ask marty friedman, but i think he meant it more along the lines of certain phrasings would sound discordant in a metal song and not in a good way
@@Bricklinsv1970 he isn't wrong jackass, they are fucking aliens and none of their songwriting gets old. Every album they both compose and play on is a peak better than their previous ones.
This is great. Alex's reputation speaks for itself, and DD is perhaps metal's greatest current torchbearer for six-string virtuosity. Revocation is a lot of fun live, too!
A big fan of both of them! I know that most of the jazz bands doesn't have vocals, but these guys should do something with Myles Kennedy (awesome guitar player too)
I love jazz and metal, jazzmetal fusion is superb. Listen to bands like Exivious. A lot of prog metal uses a lot of jazz. Alex is one of my favorite players, Randy Rhoads is better 😁🤘
I love Alex Skolnick, but he plays jazz in a really weird way. It's as if he were trying really hard to play stereotypical jazz, but still always ends up playing it as if it were metal. I guess it's because rock and metal were the first styles he played, as he explains in the video. I'm not hating at all; it's just an observation. The dude is a monster guitar player. It's weird though how NOBODY ever mentions the Attention Deficit albums, which in my opinion have some of his best work, because he wasn't trying to play in any box, and all his styles just melted together. On the other hand, I'm gonna have to check out more Revocation!
Nick Jenkins it is astonisihing i have to agree. but not for everyone. if i learn the 1st half of the video theorie wise i would probably have forgotten it the next day, i was never good at that theorie stuff, short attention span i think.
@@TIGERGUTS nope wrong answer. theorie is like the bible,it are the rules. by breaking them you f.... with the written out stuff and time signatutes. put a metronome to van halens eruption and you'lle notice its floating all over the place . do a dive bomb decending and name me everynote,there goes theorie right out of the window. whe are all schooled but diffrent. allot and i say allot of early thrash and deathmetal band new crap about theorie. dave mustaine and dimebagg are regarded as the best in that genre,both knew jack shit and just wanted to express emotions.
Great stuff. Love your music. However, Parents Music Resource Center was headed by Tipper Gore, and she and her husband are not considered “right wing.” They would be considered liberal aka “left wing.” Parents Music Resource Center was behind the parental advisory movement.
It was actually founded by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senatorand later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally Nevius, wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius. Only Gore was a liberal. The other three were conservatives, whos husbands worked for the Reagan and Nixon administrations.
the stubborn guys end up making garbage, music is music and what you make suits your karakter most. you can make thrashmetal sound really jazze or visa versa. megadeth peace sell drips jazz just due to the 2 jazz fusion players beeing in that band then.
ps: bring the Metal Skolnick, i don't like the Jazz Skolnick, the other guy is awesome and monster lead player, im drowning :'''''(, also bring the Metal Dave
Grew up on the big four of thrash. Testament was equally important of an influence. I wish ANY of my thrash heroes had progressed to our modern days of drop tuned extremes. Most of them don't even fuck with 7 strings let alone the 8, 9 or 10 string monsters I play. You're never too old guys to come to the heavy side!
Metal is often challenging music to play, and these two players really exemplify the insanely high level of musical prowess evident in the genre, right now.
Revocation = The most underrated thrash/death band. Every album is just modern metal perfection!!
David Davidson is by far one of my all time favorite Metal artists, as well as the musician who got me into Death Metal.
Yeah Revocation was really that transition from thrash metal to death metal for me. Once I heard their cover of Sworn to the Black I started checking out the OG DM bands.
Same here. One of my favorites guitarist. Also he got me Into death too.
Yep, me three. Rev's thrash lured me in, then made DM palatable to me for the first time. Dismantle the Dictator's jazzy fresh sound caught my attention though, ironically.
I showed interest in jazz because of Alex and got even more invested because of Davidson.
It's been a decade and I'm about to transfer into my Jazz Studies undergrad. It's made me a better metal player and just a more well-rounded musician in general.
Man, Dave must have had a blast doing this video, I always hear Testament's riffs influence on his songs, such a nice guy he is.
This is an awesome video. I don't think I've ever seen Dave Davidson as happy as when he's jazzing out on guitar.
Okay... favorite video of all time. That’s it.
Second to "two girls one cup"
Masterclass from these two 🤘🏼💀🤘🏼
it's funny how all the best metal guitarists are super into jazz / fusion... such a wide range of skills
If you read guitar player spotlight in the 90's every metal guitar player mentioned Holdsworth, Al Dimeola or John McLaughlin as an influence.
I think jazz training really expands a musician's repertoire. For example, if you are a death metal drummer it might not hurt to have some jazz drum lessons. It helps create possibilities of different places that you can go to.
one of the coolest stories I have is after they headlined Armstrong Metalfest, I was driving both guitar players from Revocation back to their hotel, and they were discussing Chopin vs Liszt in the back seat.
Nothing better than two super smart metal guys crushing stereotypes and showing everyone what it's all about🤘.
Music has always, and will always be a mood based creature for me. There are days I love metal, days I love jazz, and dare I say, even days I really dig country. It is really amazing listening to someone like Alex Skolnick break down how he sneaks jazz sounds in to his metal solos, and Davidson discuss the wide variety of jazz influences he's had over the years. Very cool!
2 of the best guitarists of heavy metal playing jazz together awesome
You know, I think the best part about these two guys is that they are both supremely kind, and genuine humans. I've enjoyed their music for years. Seeing how friendly and generous they both are with fans at shows is really the ultimate testament to their character. Their talent is obvious, there can be no revocation of that fact.
I feel same way listenin to paul gilbert explai n a beast but also funny guy, Steve Vai explaining Guitar method & psychology ,another good thing we got to set our Mind straight to improve, also being relax at all times
I wish you would have more videos like this. So much more interesting.
I love jazz influence in metal music!
Two of my favorite guitarists at the moment. Been following Skolnick since "The Legacy" came out in 1987. Now recently discovering Davidson, I've had their tunes in my car on repeat for months now.
From the Testament -Electric Crown -seasons of grey , Sins Of Omission , 7 days of May , Fallin fast listen to Alex Skolnics his added pinch harmonics ,cool guy
The formation of damnation is an outstanding album, early 2000’s we’re a great time for testament, and Skolnik was my favorite guitarist in the scene. Good memories:)
This is absolutely great, 2 of my all-time fav players, would totally buy an album of them 2 playing together.
The pattern Skolnick talks about at 8:25 reminds me of Chrono Trigger.
Man I love Dave as a host for this sort of stuff wish there was more content like this I’d watch it all
Holy shit.
This is a jazz duo I didn't know I needed until now!
you guys need to put out a three song project. You seem to connect so well. I would love to to hear that.
Dave is such a good guitar player. Very underrated.
also appropriate that their drummers have such a connection, Ash was kind of the protege of Gene Hoglan during Gene's SYL days in Vancouver
Great stuff from two immensely talented musicians.
Wow..this vid is one that makes you tube worth the ads..what a great display of diversity, insight and talent from two of my favorite guitarists.
that arpeggio at 8:43 or what ever sounds like an opening sax line from John Coltrane's A love Supreme
this was awesome both guys are amazing players and seem super chill
Wow. These guys are a wealth of musical knowledge.
It surprises me that Alex would think any specific run of notes would be too jazzy for metal. It's all about the delivery. Metal lead playing will accept pretty much any series of notes that make sense musically over the backdrop, and even a lot that doesn't make a damn bit of melodic sense.
Well, he's Alex Fucking Skolnick and you're not, so he might have a point and you might be wrong. No offense meant.
@@richardhunter9779 He's one of my favorite guitarists, so I completely get what you're saying. I would never pretend to have the experience or depth of knowledge that Alex has, and I don't play jazz. I have been playing guitar for long enough to know that we all have our own musical opinions about what works and what doesn't, and any one expert's opinion doesn't invalidate other viewpoints.
The irony is that Dave, sitting next to him, puts plenty of jazz lines into his solos in Revocation.
yeah just about any choice of notes can be made to work, just ask marty friedman, but i think he meant it more along the lines of certain phrasings would sound discordant in a metal song and not in a good way
Dude's outta the loop.
Love Dave's grin when he's jamming
This is the second video I've seen with Dave wearing that same shirt.
There's a Gorguts shirt he loves to wear every other video too
If you watch enough Marco Minnemann videos you know that he owns two shirts.
Awesome video!!! Liked and subbed!
Please please consider doing a jazz episode with Jim Root, he’d be down for it for sure!!
David Davidson’s Revocation and Steffen Kummerer’s Obscura are the best modern bands and guitar players out there today. Hail Modern Music!
Thats just your opinion.
@@Bricklinsv1970 he isn't wrong jackass, they are fucking aliens and none of their songwriting gets old. Every album they both compose and play on is a peak better than their previous ones.
@@Bricklinsv1970 No Shit, that's why he's expressing it. And I agree with him if we're talking about modern bands.
Obscura is downright crazy musicians
Great vid! You should have done a "Guitar Gods" logo for this one!
😉👍
Nice! Solar!
The pattern he's talking about around 8:20 is the lead in for the title track (I think?) of Chrono Trigger
I was thinking that too 🤣🤣🤣
Yasunori Mitsuda definitely has a large jazz influence!
great interview/vid !!!
Awesome!
This is great. Alex's reputation speaks for itself, and DD is perhaps metal's greatest current torchbearer for six-string virtuosity. Revocation is a lot of fun live, too!
*Seven-string virtuosity
What an awesome interview.
A big fan of both of them! I know that most of the jazz bands doesn't have vocals, but these guys should do something with Myles Kennedy (awesome guitar player too)
Great video!
Okay, this is epic
It's scary how these two guys make playing guitar look so easy...
More please
awesome and wise.
God love you, Gear Gods
Please do a U.S. tour together.
Incredible. 🤘🏻🔥
Awesome video 8]
These dues rip and are classy as hell.
Legends
I love jazz and metal, jazzmetal fusion is superb. Listen to bands like Exivious. A lot of prog metal uses a lot of jazz. Alex is one of my favorite players, Randy Rhoads is better 😁🤘
Alex has stated in many interviews that Randy is a major influence on him
I know 😉
Lets not compare the two
Atheist did a lot of that fusion stuff too. One of my fav bands
Genios!!!
If you are feeling this have a listen to Mahavishnu Orchestra's, The Inner Mounting Flame
I love Alex Skolnick, but he plays jazz in a really weird way. It's as if he were trying really hard to play stereotypical jazz, but still always ends up playing it as if it were metal. I guess it's because rock and metal were the first styles he played, as he explains in the video.
I'm not hating at all; it's just an observation. The dude is a monster guitar player. It's weird though how NOBODY ever mentions the Attention Deficit albums, which in my opinion have some of his best work, because he wasn't trying to play in any box, and all his styles just melted together.
On the other hand, I'm gonna have to check out more Revocation!
I hate that skolnic feels like he has to "sneak stuff in". Metal players will love it if you play it.
He plays for testament, not the Alex Skolnick group, so he has to adapt to a certain sound and feel.
alex's hair is experimental jazz
Awesome video, need moar!
Maravilhoso !!
12:30 a million times this
Exhibits A through Z of why one should nail down music theory 🤘
Nick Jenkins so you can play exactly like alex skolnick???. to each their own, van halen and shenker where self tough and that worked for them.
arjan snijder Who said I could play anything like Mr Skolnick? I’m just in awe at their in depth musical knowledge.
Nick Jenkins it is astonisihing i have to agree. but not for everyone. if i learn the 1st half of the video theorie wise i would probably have forgotten it the next day, i was never good at that theorie stuff, short attention span i think.
Theory is good to learn and know how you can break the rules!
@@TIGERGUTS nope wrong answer. theorie is like the bible,it are the rules. by breaking them you f.... with the written out stuff and time signatutes. put a metronome to van halens eruption and you'lle notice its floating all over the place . do a dive bomb decending and name me everynote,there goes theorie right out of the window. whe are all schooled but diffrent. allot and i say allot of early thrash and deathmetal band new crap about theorie. dave mustaine and dimebagg are regarded as the best in that genre,both knew jack shit and just wanted to express emotions.
I'm going to be honest, I liked this video during the add
Everybody's love Raymond really ruined me. When I see and hear Alex Skolnick, I see Ray Romano
god damn you.........
HAHAHAHAHAH!
Have you ever seen em in yhe same room?
i wish dave had some more time to solo
Metal and jazz are the dark souls of music
Al Di Meola was the John Petrucci of the 70s....
mclaughlin was a genius too, even more unique in his phrasing
He's no lil wayne
lol @ dave's smirk
Lil wayne would School these two Guys on Guitar.
holy shit lmao awesome
Do some Joe Pass.....
Metal Head 420 they can't
Everything i play sounds like jazz cuz i dont know theory and just hit the all the notes my fingers can reach
Great stuff. Love your music. However, Parents Music Resource Center was headed by Tipper Gore, and she and her husband are not considered “right wing.” They would be considered liberal aka “left wing.” Parents Music Resource Center was behind the parental advisory movement.
It was actually founded by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senatorand later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally Nevius, wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius. Only Gore was a liberal. The other three were conservatives, whos husbands worked for the Reagan and Nixon administrations.
the stubborn guys end up making garbage, music is music and what you make suits your karakter most. you can make thrashmetal sound really jazze or visa versa. megadeth peace sell drips jazz just due to the 2 jazz fusion players beeing in that band then.
Does Dave only own one shirt or does he have a closet full of Dodecahedron shirts?
Can't wait for metal to tank again so I can see this duo at Middle East upstairs ;)
Sorry but Alex's clean picking is way too hard. Sounds like shit without distortion.
jazz and metal are the same thing...
Not one bit. I'm a metal guitarist that went to school for guitar and played in Jazz ensemble, two different worlds
ps: bring the Metal Skolnick, i don't like the Jazz Skolnick, the other guy is awesome and monster lead player, im drowning :'''''(, also bring the Metal Dave
Eric Valverde y so elitist-y?
that's so dumb lol
Jazz sucks and will always suck.
@TheGreaterGood80 "Right".
Moron.
Grew up on the big four of thrash. Testament was equally important of an influence. I wish ANY of my thrash heroes had progressed to our modern days of drop tuned extremes. Most of them don't even fuck with 7 strings let alone the 8, 9 or 10 string monsters I play. You're never too old guys to come to the heavy side!