www . steelnotesmagazine . com
Steel Notes Magazine
success of those albums might be debatable , but Gus ’ talent was too audacious to be ignored . His playing technique received due praise from the critics as well as the audience . This compelled him to focus on his solo career and his own band . Firewind has released 7 studio records from 1998 till date .
Aside from his solo ventures , Gus has teamed up with notable bands and acclaimed musicians for guest appearances , including Nightrage , In This Moment , and the Greek rock band named West Neighborhoods . His natural playing brilliance helped him make a mark in all of his solo , guest , and joint feats and eventually landed him into Ozzy Osbourne ’ s ( The Unrivaled Godfather of Heavy Metal ) list of prospected candidates to play as the lead guitarist in his next big album release . Gus was initially invited by Ozzy to learn with him and play for a few minor albums . His talent endorsed him as a wise decision on Ozzy ’ s part and he was officially offered a role to play in place of Zakk Wylde .
Aside from his associations with the Arch Enemy , Kamelot , Nightrage , Angel Vivaldi , Mystic Prophecy and making numerous guest appearances and solos , Gus mentions that playing for Ozzy was an experience of a lifetime , and the honor itself outweighs all other accolades and awards he has accomplished to date .
Gus ’ s recent releases include Brand New Revolution and a couple of guest appearances for Attitude and Attitude . Gus has been ranked at 3 rd position among the top 3 guitarists in the world by Japanese magazine BURRN ! in 2003 .
We recently had a chance to interview Gus where he shared his personal insight on his career so far and where he aspires to land in the future . Read on to find what he has to say .
Hey , Gus ! Welcome to All That Shreds . I had the pleasure of seeing you with Angel Vivaldi recently .
Yes ! That was a cool show that night I remember
It was a very cool show . I was wondering where you were going to put all your gear . I was just like , wow !
( laughter )
Everything fit alright in the end . It was a cool stage I thought
Yes ! It ’ s a very cool setup there . That is where a lot of the hard rock metal bands go
Yes , they told me that . It was cool How are you liking AFM Records ?
We just started working together and they have their rights to a new album for North America and Century Media is handling the rest of the world . So I ’ m curious to see what they do in North America . The last album I put out on my own label basically
Has it been five years now since Firewind came out with the last album . Anything particular change in recording on this one versus your old one ?
Steel Notes Magazine www . steelnotesmagazine . com
61