Dualing Axes

Having recently listed my fifty-two favorite active-duty guitarists, focusing especially on solo artists, it seems only fair to acknowledge my favorite Guitarynamic Duos, that is to say, those pairs of guitarists who work in tandem to create a sonic landscape for their bands. These twin blades relate to each other in a variety of ways, sometimes as rhythm and lead guitarist respectively, sometimes trading off on those duties in tag-team fashion, and sometimes providing twin leads throughout. Anyway, these axes go marching two-by-two, hurrah, hurrah, and I've listed them here in the order (more-or-less) of my personal enjoyment of their efforts:

1. Chris Robertson & Ben Wells (Black Stone Cherry)

2. Thomas Bredahl & Michael Poulsen (Volbeat)

3. Dave Mustaine & Chris Broderick (Megadeth)

4. Joe Satriani & Sammy Hagar (Chickenfoot)

5. Ozzy Lister & Mark Thomas (Black Spiders)

6. Synyster Gates & Zacky Vengeance (Avenged Sevenfold)

7. Gabriel Garcia & Austin Diaz (Black Tide)

8. Gus G & Bob Katsionis (Firewind)

9. Oscar Dronjak & Pontus Norgren (Hammerfall)

10. Mark Tremonti & Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge)

11. Joe Selby & Andy Brewer (Taddy Porter)

12. Corey Beaulieu & Matt Heafy (Trivium)

13. Alex Rosamilia & Brian Fallon (The Gaslight Anthem)

14. André Olbrich & Marcus Siepen (Blind Guardian)

15. Herman Li & Sam Totman (Dragonforce)

16. Thom Blunier & Thomas Muster (Shakra)

17. Andy Boulton & John Wiggins (Tokyo Blade)

18. Matt Roberts & Chris Henderson (3 Doors Down)

19. Matt Tuck & Mike Paget (Bullet for My Valentine)

20. Chad Taylor & Sean Hennesy (The Gracious Few)

21. Fabian Schwarz & Christof Leim (The New Black)

22. Steffen Kummerer & Christian Muenzner (Obscura)

23. Paul Quinn & Doug Scarratt (Saxon)

24. Paul Kleff & Nick Layton (Firewölfe)

25. Brent Hinds & Bill Kelliher (Mastodon)

26. Luke Morley & Peter Shoulder (The Union)

27. Nicolas van Dyk & Bernie Versailles (Redemption)

28. Keith Wallen & Robert Zakaryan (Adelita’s Way)

29. Slash & Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver)

30. Wolf Hoffmann & Herman Frank (Accept)

31. Matthew & Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon)

32. Nick Wheeler & Mike Kennerty (All American Rejects)

33. Johan Söderberg & Olavi Mikkonen (Amon Amarth)

34. Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks (Tedeschi Trucks Band)

35. Mikael Åkerfeldt & Fredrik Åkesson (Opeth)

36. Oli Herbert & Mike Martin (All That Remains)

37. Ville Friman & Markus Vanhala (Insomnium)

38. John Cobbett & Leila Abdul Rauf (Hammers of Misfortune)

39. Joakim Nilsson & Jonatan Ramm (Graveyard)

40. John Baizley & Peter Adams (Baroness)

41. Bryan Giles & David Sullivan (Red Fang)

42. Phil Sgrosso & Nick Hipa (As I Lay Dying)

43. Esa Holopainen & Tomi Koivusaari (Amorphis)

44. Ray Toro & Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance)

45. Jake Pitts & Jinxx (Black Veil Brides)

46. Leo Leoni & Freddy Scherer (Gotthard)

Honorable Mention (from days gone by):

Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing (Judas Priest)

Dave Murray & Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)

Rudolf Schenker & Matthias Jabs (Scorpions)

Steve Clark & Phil Collen (Def Leppard)

Malcolm & Angus Young (AC/DC)

Paul Stanley & Ace Frehley (KISS)

Brian Robertson & Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy)

Gary Rossington & Allen Collins (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones)

Don Felder & Joe Walsh (The Eagles)

Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield (Metallica)

John Lennon & George Harrison (The Beatles)