About Steve Smyth

There are two musicians with the name Steve Smyth. 1. An Australian blues/folk musician; and 2. An American heavy metal guitarist. 1. Steve Smyth is an Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist; currently based between Sydney and London. He is originally from the south coast of New South Wales, where he began his musical career playing in a punk band as a teenager. He began performing under his own name in the late 2000s. His debut album, Release, came out in January 2012 via Shock Records. His second studio album, Exits, is set for release in August 2014. 2. Steve Smyth (November 28, 1970) is the former guitarist for the metal bands Nevermore, Testament, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors, and Forbidden. Smyth was born in Northern California and started his career in the female-fronted melodic progressive metal band Ariah after graduation in 1988. Ariah never released an official studio album, but they recorded a few songs and played local shows with bands like Vicious Rumors and King Diamond. Ariah disbanded in 1992. After a three-year hiatus, he joined the power metal band Vicious Rumors to replace guitarist Mark McGee who had left the band after the death of Vicious Rumors vocalist Carl Albert. Something Burning (1996) was the first album which Smyth played on. It was followed by Cyberchrist in 1998, and now he participated in songwriting too. In 1999 Smyth left Vicious Rumors and joined Testament. The Bay Area thrash legend had just released The Gathering album, but lead guitarist James Murphy was diagnosed with a brain tumor, so Testament were in want of a new guitarist for the forthcoming tour. In the next 5 years Smyth toured with Testament all around the globe and played uncountable shows as a member of the band. He wanted to make a studio album with Testament but that remained a dream for him. On the other hand, Smyth formed the band Dragonlord as a side project with guitarist Eric Peterson and bassist Steve DiGiorgio of Testament in 2000. This symphonic black metal outfit have released two albums: Rapture (2001) and Black Wings of Destiny (2005). Seattle-based Nevermore had been friends with Smyth prior to his joining of the band. Initially jokingly, he asked if he could join Nevermore. He joined Nevermore as a touring guitarist, and in 2004, Smyth officially joined the band after helping them tour in Europe. He played guitar in the band along with Jeff Loomis and co-wrote some songs on the critically acclaimed album This Godless Endeavor (2005). On April 30, 2006, Smyth released a message explaining to fans that he has been diagnosed with kidney failure due to a congenital birth defect. Updates followed on May 30, June 3, and August 9, 2006 on his official website. On December 12, 2006, Smyth had a successful kidney transplantation. In the summer of 2007 Smyth left Nevermore due to "personal and business differences". At that time he was working on an all-instrumental album in the vein of progressive rock with his former Ariah bandmate and bassist Steve Hoffman. This side project was named "EssenEss" after their same first names, as a transctiption of S'n'S (Steve and Steve). Self-titled The EssenEss Project debut album released on November 5th, 2007. He currently is teaching at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music and is now a member of Forbidden.