Elias Viljanen

PERHAPS better known as lead guitarist and shredder extraordinaire with Finnish power-metal pioneers Sonata Arctica, Elias Viljanen has been playing guitar since the age of eight. Inspired by KISS, Metallica, Slayer and Joe Satriani to name but a few, Viljanen began his illustrious shredding career in 2001:-

 

“I was in a situation where I felt I had to do my own shred demo. I just had to get it out of my system … and I wanted it to be as close to perfect as possible. So I practiced for 4 months, 2-3 hours every day.”

 

On the strength of these early demos, Viljanen was offered a record deal, and his debut album ‘Taking The Lead’ was released in 2002. Achieving a Top 10 position for best-selling hard rock album on guitar9.com, as well as gaining positive comment from Steve Vai himself, Viljanen followed up his debut with 2005’s ‘The Leadstar’. Soon after, he was asked to join internationally successful power-metal quintet Sonata Arctica as prime guitarist, a position he has been filling ever since.

 

Freshly signed to Spinefarm Records, Viljanen is now set to release his third studio album ‘Fire-Hearted’ on June 22nd 2009.