YouTube has been the go-to spot for promoting new tracks for a while now, with labels, musicians, producers and everyone else using it. In recent years, rock and metal fans have also been paying attention to players who want to show off their talent in a different way, not just with original songs and albums. Here are a few names who’ve made a real splash in the last few years.
Frog Leap Studios (3 million subscribers)
Frog Leap Studios is run by Leo Moracchioli from Norway, who works in recording and producing music. Moracchioli tackles all kinds of stuff, but the covers, gear breakdowns and the like really stand out. He’s been actively making music since he was 15. One day he decided to cover Poker Face by Lady Gaga and put it on YouTube. The cover racked up a million views, and many more covers followed, which made the channel’s popularity skyrocket.
Ten Second Songs (2.8 million subscribers)
The Ten Second Songs video channel is run by talented singer Anthony Vincent, who sings well-known songs in different styles. A single track can come out of Anthony Vincent in the style of Guns ‘n’ Roses, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Offspring and many others. As an example, here’s a Linkin’ Park hit done in a bunch of different styles.
Jared Dines (2.2 million subscribers)
Jared Dines is one of the most recognizable names on YouTube among metal fans. Dines goes at his videos with a goofy sense of humor, but also shows he can play just about any instrument. He got famous within a few years, even toured with Trivium last year, and he also shines a light on other musicians on YouTube. You can see that in the video “the biggest shred collab song in the world“, which featured loads of guitarists eager to show off their talent.
Davie504 (2.2 million subscribers)
Davie504, aka Davide Biale, is a bassist from the Italian city of Savona. He’s been playing bass since 2009, and just two years later he started his video channel, where he shows off his feel for groove and reworks arrangements in all sorts of ways. He takes a tongue-in-cheek approach, so in one video he might play bass on a single string, and in the next on 15 strings. And of course he tackles the odd cover too.
Rob Scallon (1.5 million subscribers)
Rob Scallon could be described as either competition for Jared Dines or his buddy. He also takes a humorous approach to things, only Scallon leans a bit more toward gear and technique. He’s best known for his covers of well-known metal songs on banjo, cello and ukulele.
331Erock (1.4 million subscribers)
331Erock, aka Eric Calderone, is an American guitarist who covers popular songs, movie and TV themes, and famous video game tunes. 331Erock interprets everything, naturally, the heavy metal way. His covers include tracks from the animated movie Frozen, themes from the video games Skyrim, Super Mario and more.
Stevie T (1.2 million subscribers)
Stevie Terryberry, a Canadian guitarist, is known as a rival to Jared Dines and Rob Scallon. Stevie T also goes the humorous route, dripping with cynicism, but he’s also a seriously well-schooled guitarist who can take on pretty much anything. Stevie T is especially loved for videos where he learns to play guitar like Lil Wayne, shows how deathcore would sound if it were happy, how to play djent and plenty more.
Charlie Parra (748 thousand subscribers)
Charlie Parra del Riego is a 33-year-old guitarist from Peru who has played in plenty of bands, the better-known one being Kobra and the Lotus. His YouTube channel is best known for videos where Parra covers themes from Dragonball, Power Rangers and Game of Thrones, or breaks down the difference between punk and metal.
Ola Englund (304 thousand subscribers)
Ola Englund is another well-known name, though he’s not only visible on YouTube. The guy, who jokes around in every way imaginable, made a name for himself by playing in various bands like Six Feet Under, The Haunted, Scarpoint and others. His main band is called Feared, and he’s already put out quite a few albums with them. He really made his mark by testing guitars, amps and guitar effects. He further cemented his success by founding the guitar company Solar.
Sarah Longfield (213 thousand subscribers)
Sarah Longfield is a young guitarist who turned heads with her talent years ago, when she took on covers of Meshuggah, Animals as Leaders, Rings of Saturn and others. Plenty of other musicians have invited her to collaborate, and her talent caught the eye of the label Season of Mist, which put out her second solo album, Disparity, last year.
66Samus (147 thousand subscribers)
66 Samus, aka Samus Paulicelli, is a popular name among drummers. He got noticed playing in a few death metal bands, currently plays in the death metal band Decrepit Birth, and recently worked with Devin Townsend. On his channel Paulicelli proves himself a joker, so you can catch Samus playing, say, a Metallica cover with dildos. Of course there’s also a small ocean of covers and original songs too, because Samus is an incredibly good guitarist as well.
Simon Škrlec (13 thousand subscribers)
YouTube is teeming with interesting, talented musicians, but let’s give a shout-out to Simon Škrlec too. He’s a Slovenian drummer who has played in Vulvathrone, Obnounce, Condemnatio Cristi and others. As a live drummer he also worked with the black metal band Melechesh. He wowed audiences on the show Slovenija ima talent too. On his channel he does all sorts of things; there are loads of covers of metal bands, or he puts his own spin on some Slovenian folk-pop tune, so a Dejan Vunjak song can get dressed up with blast beats.
