Synyster Gates

Gates didn't only cover the rock and metal styles. The guitarist also went back to vintage country, which Gates' father plays, and gypsy jazz music.

Who has Zakk Wylde appointed as today's most influential soloist? The answer is Avenged Sevenfold's Synyster Gates.

Avenged Sevenfold's Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance just took home the award for Best Guitarists at this year’s Revolver Golden Gods Awards, but a few weeks ago Gates took the stage for a much different kind of gathering. In an event co-sponsored by Schecter Guitar Research and Guitar Center, Gates hand-selected 10 guitarists from an online contest to take part in an hour-and-a-half master clas

It was a huge year for Avenged Sevenfold and that's reflected by the voting in the 3rd Annual Loudwire Music Awards, where there group earned three honors. The band walked away with Best Rock Song of 2013 for 'Hail to the King,' while Synyster Gates won Best Guitarist of 2013 and the group as a whole won the Best Rock Band of 2013 trophy.

In what has likely been the biggest upset so far in this competition, Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi was defeated by Avenged Sevenfold's Synyster Gates. The Avenged strummer has pulled off two insane wins already; also beating the one and only Steve Vai in Round 1...

Black Sabbath guitarist and master of the riff Tony Iommi ran away with his victory against Morbid Angel's Trey Azagthoth in Round 1 of our Greatest Metal Guitarist competition. Iommi has continued his legacy as a metal god with Sabbath's newest album, '13,' proving that despite his recent battle with cancer, the heavy metal strummer is as vital as ever...

Steve Vai has played with a number of bands, but what’s most impressive is that the first major band he was in was with the ultra-talented Frank Zappa, who demanded perfection from his musicians. He was so impressed with Vai that he credited him with “impossible guitar parts” in liner notes...

Avenged Sevenfold all acquired their own from nicknames they possessed from high school. Frontman M. Shadows (born Matthew Charles Sanders), chose the alias because he thought of himself as "the darker character in the group" and did not like the way the name Matthew sounded. Guitarist Zacky Vengeance (b. Zachary James Baker) wanted to get back at those who doubted his potential growing