Michael Romeo
Michael James Romeo (born
March 6,
1968) is the
guitarist and a founding member of the
progressive power metal group
Symphony X.
Michael began playing
guitar at age 14 and takes his influences from a wide of range sources including
Randy Rhoads,
Steve Vai,
Marty Friedman,
Al Di Meola,
J.S. Bach,
John Williams and
Frank Zappa, although he draws most heavily from a
neo-classical style reminiscent of
Yngwie Malmsteen. Despite this, Michael manages to maintain an identifiable signature that sets him apart from other players in this genre by fusing exotic
scales and
arpeggios (such as the
half-diminished,
whole tone and
Egyptian scale), non-standard
rhythms,
time signatures and a raw
neo-classical edge. An element of
jazz is also present in his music.
Although Michael has received coverage in many guitar magazines around the world, he is best known for his role as lead guitarist in the
progressive power metal band Symphony X which he founded in
1994 after a request by a Japanese record label who were impressed by Michael's demo tape,
The Dark Chapter.
An incredibly technical player, Michael is most famous for lightning-fast
sweep picking and
tapping though he also uses alternate picking technique, despite the fact that his style relies more on a softer
legato attack and his trademark
sweep-tapping licks. Michael is regarded as not only an exceptional
soloist but also for his complex
rhythm guitar parts that make heavy use of
artificial harmonics for impact. These playing effects are greatly demonstrated on his demonstrational guitar video, called, The Guitar Chapter, viewed
here.Michael usually uses a custom
ESP guitar (based on the MII-Deluxe) and
Line6 amplification for live performances and
Mesa Boogie amplification for studio recording, although he recently played
Caparison guitars on the recent
Gigantour tour.
Michael also loves
Star Wars as shown by his performance of the Star Wars Suite on the Symphony X Rarities and Demos fanclub CD. He has also stated that his favorite Star Wars character is
Darth Vader.
